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.
Required Notice to Secured Creditors
The Executor or Administrator of a Harris County Probate Estate has many legal obligations. One of the obligations is to notify certain creditors of the probate pending in the Harris County Probate Court. The notice to these creditors must be done as required by the Texas Probate Code.
When to Provide Notice to Secured Creditors
The Executor or Administrator of an estate shall give notice of the issuance of letters to each and every person known to the Executor or Administrator to have a claim for money against the estate of a decedent that is secured by real or personal property of the estate within two months of receiving their letters testamentary of letters of administration.
If the Executor or Administrator subsequently obtains actual knowledge of the existence of a secured creditor to whom notice was not previously given, the Executor or Administrator of the Harris County Probate Estate shall give notice to the person of the issuance of letters within a reasonable time.
Proof of Notice
A copy of each notice and a copy of the return receipt and an affidavit of the Executor or Administrator, stating that said notice was mailed as required by law, giving the name of the person to whom the notice was mailed, if not shown on the notice or receipt, shall be filed with the clerk of the Houston Probate Court.
A Harris County Probate Attorney can help you fulfill your legal obligations as the Executor or Administrator of an estate in the Harris County Probate Court.