Texas Estates Code 33.004 – Heirship Proceedings
(a) Venue for a proceeding to determine a decedent‘s heirs is in:
(1) the court of the county in which a proceeding admitting the decedent’s will to probate or administering the decedent’s estate was most recently pending; or
(2) the court of the county in which venue would be proper for commencement of an administration of the decedent’s estate under § 33.001 if:
(A) no will of the decedent has been admitted to probate in this state and no administration of the decedent’s estate has been granted in this state; or
(B) the proceeding is commenced by the trustee of a trust holding assets for the benefit of the decedent.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) and § 33.001, if there is no administration pending of the estate of a deceased ward who died intestate, venue for a proceeding to determine the deceased ward’s heirs is in the probate court in which the guardianship proceedings with respect to the ward’s estate were pending on the date of the ward’s death. A proceeding described by this subsection may not be brought as part of the guardianship proceedings with respect to the ward’s estate, but rather must be filed as a separate cause in which the court may determine the heirs’ respective shares and interests in the estate as provided by the laws of this state.
Terms Used In Texas Estates Code 33.004
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- 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 - Decedent: A deceased person.
- 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 - Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
- Probate: Proving a will
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
- Ward: means a person for whom a guardian has been appointed. See Texas Estates Code 22.033