Texas Estates Code 308.002 – Required Notice to Certain Beneficiaries After Probate of Will
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), not later than the 60th day after the date of an order admitting a decedent‘s will to probate, the personal representative of the decedent’s estate, including an independent executor or independent administrator, shall give notice that complies with § 308.003 to each beneficiary named in the will whose identity and address are known to the representative or, through reasonable diligence, can be ascertained. If, after the 60th day after the date of the order, the representative becomes aware of the identity and address of a beneficiary who was not given notice on or before the 60th day, the representative shall give the notice as soon as possible after becoming aware of that information.
(b) Notwithstanding the requirement under Subsection (a) that the personal representative give the notice to the beneficiary, the representative shall give the notice with respect to a beneficiary described by this subsection as follows:
(1) if the beneficiary is a trustee of a trust, to the trustee, unless the representative is the trustee, in which case the representative shall, except as provided by Subsection (b-1), give the notice to the person or class of persons first eligible to receive the trust income, to be determined for purposes of this subdivision as if the trust were in existence on the date of the decedent’s death;
(2) if the beneficiary has a court-appointed guardian or conservator, to that guardian or conservator;
(3) if the beneficiary is a minor for whom no guardian or conservator has been appointed, to a parent of the minor; and
(4) if the beneficiary is a charity that for any reason cannot be notified, to the attorney general.
Terms Used In Texas Estates Code 308.002
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
- 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 - Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Minor: means a person younger than 18 years of age who:
(1) has never been married; and
(2) has not had the disabilities of minority removed for general purposes. See Texas Estates Code 22.022 - Person: includes a natural person and a corporation. See Texas Estates Code 22.027
- personal representative: include :
(1) an executor and independent executor;
(2) an administrator, independent administrator, and temporary administrator; and
(3) a successor to an executor or administrator listed in Subdivision (1) or (2). See Texas Estates Code 22.031 - Probate: Proving a will
- Qualified delivery method: means delivery by:
(1) hand delivery by courier, with courier's proof of delivery receipt;
(2) certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, with return receipt; or
(3) a private delivery service designated as a designated delivery service by the United States Secretary of the Treasury under Section 7502(f)(2), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, with proof of delivery receipt. See Texas Estates Code 22.0295 - Signed: includes any symbol executed or adopted by a person with present intention to authenticate a writing. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(b-1) The personal representative is not required to give the notice otherwise required by Subsection (b)(1) to a person eligible to receive trust income at the sole discretion of the trustee of a trust if:
(1) the representative has given the notice to an ancestor of the person who has a similar interest in the trust; and
(2) no apparent conflict exists between the ancestor and the person eligible to receive trust income.
(c) A personal representative is not required to give the notice otherwise required by this section to a beneficiary who:
(1) has made an appearance in the proceeding with respect to the decedent’s estate before the will was admitted to probate;
(2) is entitled to receive aggregate gifts under the will with an estimated value of $2,000 or less;
(3) has received all gifts to which the beneficiary is entitled under the will not later than the 60th day after the date of the order admitting the decedent’s will to probate; or
(4) has received a copy of the will that was admitted to probate or a written summary of the gifts to the beneficiary under the will and has waived the right to receive the notice in an instrument that:
(A) either acknowledges the receipt of the copy of the will or includes the written summary of the gifts to the beneficiary under the will;
(B) is signed by the beneficiary; and
(C) is filed with the court.
(d) The notice required by this section must be sent by a qualified delivery method.