Texas Estates Code 355.102 – Claims Classification; Priority of Payment
Current as of: 2024 | Check for updates
|
Other versions
(a) Claims against an estate shall be classified and have priority of payment as provided by this section.
(b) Class 1 claims are composed of funeral expenses and expenses of the decedent‘s last illness, including claims for reimbursement of those expenses, for a reasonable amount approved by the court, not to exceed $15,000 for funeral expenses and $15,000 for expenses of the decedent’s last illness. Any excess shall be classified and paid as other unsecured claims.
Terms Used In Texas Estates Code 355.102
- 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 - Claims: includes :
(1) liabilities of a decedent that survive the decedent's death, including taxes, regardless of whether the liabilities arise in contract or tort or otherwise;
(2) funeral expenses;
(3) the expense of a tombstone;
(4) expenses of administration;
(5) estate and inheritance taxes; and
(6) debts due such estates. See Texas Estates Code 22.005 - 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 - Justice: when applied to a magistrate, means justice of the peace. See Texas Government Code 312.011
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- lien: include :
(1) a deed of trust;
(2) a vendor's lien, a mechanic's, materialman's, or laborer's lien, an attachment or garnishment lien, and a federal or state tax lien;
(3) a chattel mortgage;
(4) a judgment; and
(5) a pledge by hypothecation. See Texas Estates Code 22.024 - Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
- Probate: Proving a will
- Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(c) Class 2 claims are composed of:
(1) expenses of administration;
(2) expenses incurred in preserving, safekeeping, and managing the estate, including fees and expenses awarded under § 352.052;
(3) unpaid expenses of administration awarded in a guardianship of the decedent; and
(4) for an estate with respect to which a public probate administrator has taken any action under Chapter 455, court costs and commissions to which the administrator is entitled under Subchapter A, Chapter 352.
(d) Class 3 claims are composed of each secured claim for money under § 355.151(a)(1), including a tax lien, to the extent the claim can be paid out of the proceeds of the property subject to the mortgage or other lien. If more than one mortgage, lien, or security interest exists on the same property, the claims shall be paid in order of priority of the mortgage, lien, or security interest securing the debt.
(e) Class 4 claims are composed of claims:
(1) for the principal amount of and accrued interest on delinquent child support and child support arrearages that have been:
(A) confirmed as a judgment or a determination of arrearages by a court under Title 5, Family Code; or
(B) administratively determined as evidenced by a certified child support payment record produced by the Title IV-D agency, as defined by § 101.033, Family Code, in a Title IV-D case, as defined by § 101.034, Family Code; and
(2) for unpaid child support obligations under § 154.015, Family Code.
(f) Class 5 claims are composed of claims for taxes, penalties, and interest due under Title 2, Tax Code, Chapter 2153, Occupations Code, former Section 81.111, Natural Resources Code, the Municipal Sales and Use Tax Act (Chapter 321, Tax Code), § 451.404, Transportation Code, or Subchapter I, Chapter 452, Transportation Code.
(g) Class 6 claims are composed of claims for the cost of confinement established by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice under § 501.017, Government Code.
(h) Class 7 claims are composed of claims for repayment of medical assistance payments made by the state under Chapter 32, Human Resources Code, to or for the benefit of the decedent.
(i) Class 8 claims are composed of any other claims not described by Subsections (b)-(h).