- Married with no children
- If there are no children or their descendants, the surviving spouse is entitled to all of the personal property in the state. The surviving spouse also gets outright ownership of one half of the decedent’s lands. If there are no surviving relatives of the deceased or their descendants, the surviving spouse gets everything.
- Married with child or children
- The spouse takes one third of the personal property in the estate, with the balance going to the children and their descendants. The surviving spouse is also entitled to an interest in one third of the land in the estate for the rest of his or her life (a.k.a. a life estate) with the remainder going to the descendant’s children and their descendants.
- No spouse survives but there are other relatives
- If there is no living spouse, children or their descendants, the estate passes in the following order:
1) parents; if only one parent survives, 50% goes to the parent and the other 50% goes to any siblings
2) siblings and their descendants
3) grandparents or their descendants - No surviving relatives
- The estate passes to the state of Texas.
- State link
- http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/DocViewer.aspx?DocKey=ES%2fES.201&Phrases=intestate&HighlightType=1&ExactPhrase=False&QueryText=intestate
- Special notes
- 1) A person who fails to survive the decedent by at least 120 hours is deemed to have predeceased the decedent for purposes of inheritance.
2) If there are heirs of half blood as well as heirs of whole blood, those of half blood inherit half as much as those heirs of whole blood. If all heirs are of half blood, they shall all have whole shares.
