(a) The executor or administrator of an estate shall pay an allowance in lieu of exempt property in accordance with this section.
(b) If there is a surviving spouse and there are no children of the decedent, or if all the children, including any adult incapacitated children, of the decedent are also the children of the surviving spouse, the executor or administrator shall pay the entire allowance to the surviving spouse.

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Terms Used In Texas Estates Code 353.054

  • 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
  • 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
  • Exempt property: means the property in a decedent's estate that is exempt from execution or forced sale by the constitution or laws of this state, and any allowance paid instead of that property. See Texas Estates Code 22.013
  • 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.
  • Person: includes a natural person and a corporation. See Texas Estates Code 22.027

(c) If there is a surviving spouse and there are children of the decedent who are not also children of the surviving spouse, the executor or administrator shall pay the surviving spouse one-half of the entire allowance plus the shares of the decedent’s children of whom the surviving spouse is the parent. The remaining shares must be paid to:
(1) the decedent’s adult children of whom the surviving spouse is not a parent and who are not incapacitated;
(2) the guardian of the children of whom the surviving spouse is not a parent and who are minors; or
(3) the guardian or another appropriate person, as determined by the court, if there is no guardian, of each child who is an incapacitated adult.
(d) If there is no surviving spouse and there are children of the decedent, the executor or administrator shall divide the entire allowance equally among the children and pay the children’s shares to:
(1) each of those children who are adults and who are not incapacitated;
(2) the guardian of each of those children who are minors; or
(3) the guardian or another appropriate person, as determined by the court, if there is no guardian, of each of those children who is an incapacitated adult.