Texas Estates Code 255.451 – Circumstances Under Which Will May Be Modified or Reformed
(a) Subject to the requirements of this section, on the petition of a personal representative, a court may order that the terms of the will be modified or reformed, that the personal representative be directed or permitted to perform acts that are not authorized or that are prohibited by the terms of the will, or that the personal representative be prohibited from performing acts that are required by the terms of the will, if:
(1) modification of administrative, nondispositive terms of the will is necessary or appropriate to prevent waste or impairment of the estate‘s administration;
(2) the order is necessary or appropriate to achieve the testator‘s tax objectives or to qualify a distributee for government benefits and is not contrary to the testator’s intent; or
(3) the order is necessary to correct a scrivener’s error in the terms of the will, even if unambiguous, to conform with the testator’s intent.
(a-1) A personal representative seeking to modify or reform a will under this section must file a petition on or before the fourth anniversary of the date the will was admitted to probate.
Terms Used In Texas Estates Code 255.451
- Court: means and includes:
(1) a county court in the exercise of its probate jurisdiction;
(2) a court created by statute and authorized to exercise original probate jurisdiction; and
(3) a district court exercising original probate jurisdiction in a contested matter. See Texas Estates Code 22.007 - Distributee: means a person who is entitled to a part of the estate of a decedent under a lawful will or the statutes of descent and distribution. See Texas Estates Code 22.010
- 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 - Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- personal representative: include :
(1) an executor and independent executor;
(2) an administrator, independent administrator, and temporary administrator; and
(3) a successor to an executor or administrator listed in Subdivision (1) or (2). See Texas Estates Code 22.031 - Probate: Proving a will
- Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
(b) An order described in Subsection (a)(3) may be issued only if the testator’s intent is established by clear and convincing evidence.
(c) Chapter 123, Property Code, applies to a proceeding under Subsection (a) that involves a charitable trust.