Texas Estates Code 201.002 – Separate Estate of an Intestate
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(a) If a person who dies intestate leaves a surviving spouse, the estate, other than a community estate, to which the person had title descends and passes as provided by this section.
(b) If the person has one or more children or a descendant of a child:
(1) the surviving spouse takes one-third of the personal estate;
(2) two-thirds of the personal estate descends to the person’s child or children, and the descendants of a child or children; and
(3) the surviving spouse is entitled to a life estate in one-third of the person’s land, with the remainder descending to the person’s child or children and the descendants of a child or children.
Terms Used In Texas Estates Code 201.002
- Child: includes an adopted child, regardless of whether the adoption occurred through:
(1) an existing or former statutory procedure; or
(2) an equitable adoption or acts of estoppel. See Texas Estates Code 22.004 - Estate: means a decedent's property, as that property:
(1) exists originally and as the property changes in form by sale, reinvestment, or otherwise;
(2) is augmented by any accretions and other additions to the property, including any property to be distributed to the decedent's representative by the trustee of a trust that terminates on the decedent's death, and substitutions for the property; and
(3) is diminished by any decreases in or distributions from the property. See Texas Estates Code 22.012 - Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
- Life estate: A property interest limited in duration to the life of the individual holding the interest (life tenant).
- Person: includes a natural person and a corporation. See Texas Estates Code 22.027
- Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), if the person has no child and no descendant of a child:
(1) the surviving spouse is entitled to all of the personal estate;
(2) the surviving spouse is entitled to one-half of the person’s land without a remainder to any person; and
(3) one-half of the person’s land passes and is inherited according to the rules of descent and distribution.
(d) If the person described by Subsection (c) does not leave a surviving parent or one or more surviving siblings, or their descendants, the surviving spouse is entitled to the entire estate.