Order to Account Not Appealable
An Accounting under Section 149A of the Probate Code can help bring some transparency to the probate administration process for beneficiaries that may not have been kept informed of the progress of the administration. In an Accounting, the Executor is required to document the initial assets that he received, the current assets on hand, and all of the transactions that took place in between. If you are going to pursue an Accounting your Harris County Probate Attorney will need to make a good case to the probate court because you may not be able to appeal the decision if the judge denies your request for an Accounting.
An Appellate Court recently ruled that an order concerning an Accounting is not appealable, whatever the trial court rules goes. This is for two reasons: (1) no statute declares such an order to be final and (2) the order is not part of any proceeding other than the overall independent administration of a probate estate. Get it right the first time. Speak with a Harris County Probate Attorney if you need help with a probate matter today.
Distribution of Community Property
The Executor or Administrator of a Harris County Probate Estate is responsible for distributing the assets of the estate. If the deceased person was married, this distribution will likely involve distribution of the deceased’s separate property as well as distribution of community property. If the estate is intestate, the Texas Code distributes community property as follows:
(a) On the intestate death of one of the spouses, the community property estate of the deceased spouse passes to the surviving spouse if:
(1) no child or other descendant of the deceased spouse survives the deceased spouse; or
(2) all surviving children and descendants of the deceased spouse are also children or descendants of the surviving spouse.
(b) On the intestate death of one of the spouses to a marriage, if a child or other descendant of the deceased spouse survives the deceased spouse and the child or descendant is not a child or descendant of the surviving spouse, one-half of the community estate is retained by the surviving spouse and the other one-half passes to the children or descendants of the deceased spouse. The descendants shall inherit only such portion of said property to which they would be entitled under Section 43 of this code. In every case, the community estate passes charged with the debts against it.
Get Legal Help
Contact a Harris County Probate Attorney if you need help with an estate in the Harris County Probate Court.
Order of Payment of Claims
After the claims for a Houston Probate estate are classified, in what order do you pay them?
Claims in a Harris County Probate estate are paid in the following order:
(1) Funeral expenses and expenses of last sickness, in an amount not to exceed Fifteen Thousand Dollars.
(2) Allowances made to the surviving spouse and children, or to either.
(3) Expenses of administration and the expenses incurred in the preservation, safekeeping, and management of the estate.
(4) Other claims against the estate in the order of their classification.
An Independent Executor can pay claims without needing to obtain the court’s approval. However, in acting without the Harris County Probate Court’s approval an Independent Executor acts at their own peril if a mistake or oversight is made. Your Houston Probate Attorney can help you make sure claims against the estate are paid properly. Anyone other than an Independent Executor can obtain the court’s approval for the order of payment for claims.
Speak with a Houston Probate Attorney today if you need assistance with a probate matter in Harris County.