Texas Estates Code 202.151 – Evidence in Proceeding to Declare Heirship
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(a) The court may require that any testimony admitted as evidence in a proceeding to declare heirship be reduced to writing and subscribed and sworn to by the witnesses, respectively.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), in a proceeding to declare heirship, testimony regarding a decedent‘s heirs and family history must be taken:
(1) from two disinterested and credible witnesses in open court;
(2) by deposition in accordance with § 51.203;
(3) by a recorded statement of facts contained in:
(A) an affidavit or instrument that satisfies the requirements of § 203.001; or
(B) a judgment of a court of record as specified by § 203.001(a)(1)(B); or
(4) in accordance with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
Terms Used In Texas Estates Code 202.151
- Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
- Affidavit: means a statement in writing of a fact or facts signed by the party making it, sworn to before an officer authorized to administer oaths, and officially certified to by the officer under his seal of office. See Texas Government Code 312.011
- 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.
- Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
- 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 - Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Person: includes a natural person and a corporation. See Texas Estates Code 22.027
- person interested: means :
(1) an heir, devisee, spouse, creditor, or any other having a property right in or claim against an estate being administered; and
(2) anyone interested in the welfare of an incapacitated person, including a minor. See Texas Estates Code 22.018 - sworn: includes affirm or affirmed. See Texas Government Code 312.011
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
(c) If it is shown to the court’s satisfaction in a proceeding to declare heirship that, after a diligent search was made, only one disinterested and credible witness can be found who can make the required proof in the proceeding, the testimony of that witness must be taken:
(1) in open court;
(2) by deposition in accordance with § 51.203;
(3) by a recorded statement of facts contained in:
(A) an affidavit or instrument that satisfies the requirements of § 203.001; or
(B) a judgment of a court of record as specified by § 203.001(a)(1)(B); or
(4) in accordance with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, a person interested in an estate solely because the person is a creditor or has a claim against the estate may serve as a witness under this section if the person is otherwise a credible witness.