Texas Estates Code 201.001 – Estate of an Intestate Not Leaving Spouse
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(a) If a person who dies intestate does not leave a spouse, the estate to which the person had title descends and passes in parcenary to the person’s kindred in the order provided by this section.
(b) The person’s estate descends and passes to the person’s children and the children’s descendants.
Terms Used In Texas Estates Code 201.001
- Child: includes an adopted child, regardless of whether the adoption occurred through:
(1) an existing or former statutory procedure; or
(2) an equitable adoption or acts of estoppel. See Texas Estates Code 22.004 - 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.
- Person: includes a natural person and a corporation. See Texas Estates Code 22.027
(c) If no child or child’s descendant survives the person, the person’s estate descends and passes in equal portions to the person’s father and mother.
(d) If only the person’s father or mother survives the person, the person’s estate shall:
(1) be divided into two equal portions, with:
(A) one portion passing to the surviving parent; and
(B) one portion passing to the person’s siblings and the siblings’ descendants; or
(2) be inherited entirely by the surviving parent if there is no sibling of the person or siblings’ descendants.
(e) If neither the person’s father nor mother survives the person, the person’s entire estate passes to the person’s siblings and the siblings’ descendants.
(f) If none of the kindred described by Subsections (b)-(e) survive the person, the person’s estate shall be divided into two moieties, with:
(1) one moiety passing to the person’s paternal kindred as provided by Subsection (g); and
(2) one moiety passing to the person’s maternal kindred as provided by Subsection (h).
(g) The moiety passing to the person’s paternal kindred passes in the following order:
(1) if both paternal grandparents survive the person, equal portions pass to the person’s paternal grandfather and grandmother;
(2) if only the person’s paternal grandfather or grandmother survives the person, the person’s estate shall:
(A) be divided into two equal portions, with:
(i) one portion passing to the surviving grandparent; and
(ii) one portion passing to the descendants of the deceased grandparent; or
(B) pass entirely to the surviving grandparent if no descendant of the deceased grandparent survives the person; and
(3) if neither the person’s paternal grandfather nor grandmother survives the person, the moiety passing to the decedent‘s paternal kindred passes to the descendants of the person’s paternal grandfather and grandmother, and so on without end, passing in like manner to the nearest lineal ancestors and their descendants.
(h) The moiety passing to the person’s maternal kindred passes in the same order and manner as the other moiety passes to the decedent’s paternal kindred under Subsection (g).