Many people write wills to leave instructions for distributing their money and property after they die. But what happens to a person’s estate if they pass away in Texas without leaving a will? Understanding what intestate succession may mean for your estate can help you make informed decisions about how to plan for the distribution of your assets after your death.
Understanding Intestate Succession in Texas
Texas’s intestate succession laws govern the distribution of a decedent’s estate assets not distributed by a will. Intestate succession can come into play when a person dies without a will or when they have assets in their estate not distributed by their will. Intestate succession laws only cover estate (probate) assets, which do not include assets such as:
- Assets in trusts
- Life insurance benefits subject to a beneficiary designation
- Retirement accounts with beneficiary designations
- Financial accounts with transfer/pay-on-death designations
- Real estate owned in a joint tenancy or community property with right of survivorship
How Texas Distributes Property Without a Will
The distribution of probate assets under Texas’s intestate succession statutes depends on whether a decedent left a surviving spouse. When a decedent has no surviving spouse, the law establishes a priority for family members who will inherit from the decedent:
- To the decedent’s surviving children and deceased children’s descendants
- To the decedent mother and father, if both parents survived the decedent
- One-half to the decedent’s sole surviving parent and one-half to the decedent’s surviving sibling(s) or deceased siblings’ descendants, or entirely by the sole surviving parent if the decedent had no siblings
- To the decedent’s sibling(s) or deceased siblings’ descendants
- To the decedent’s maternal and paternal families in equal shares, with each share inherited by the decedent’s grandparents, or if one grandparent has passed away, then one-half to the deceased grandparent’s descendants, or if both grandparents have passed away, then to both grandparents’ descendants
When a decedent passes away with a spouse, distribution of the decedent’s intestate estate depends on whether the assets qualify as separate or community property. For the separate estate, a decedent who has surviving children leaves one-third of their personal property to their spouse and two-thirds to their surviving children or the descendants of deceased children; the surviving spouse also receives a life estate in one-third of the decedent’s land. If the decedent had no surviving children, their surviving spouse receives all the decedent’s personal assets and one-half of the decedent’s land, with the other half passing to the decedent’s surviving family. If a decedent has no other surviving family members, their spouse receives all their separate property. The surviving spouse also receives all the community property if the decedent had no children or shared all their children with their spouse. Otherwise, children not shared with the spouse receive one-half of the community property.
What Happens If You Have No Heirs
When a person passes away without a will and leaves no surviving spouse or family members, their intestate property “escheats.” The concept of escheat means that a decedent’s property passes to the state following a court hearing or trial. The state can then sell real estate under the laws governing the sale of Permanent School Fund lands and sell personal property at auction.
Contact Our Firm Today
Understanding what happens to your assets if you die without a will in Texas can help you determine how to structure your estate plan. Contact Carroll Law Group, PLLC today for a free, confidential consultation with a knowledgeable wills attorney to learn more about what happens if you pass away without having written a will and how Texas’s intestate succession laws may affect the distribution of your estate after your death.