(a) If a public officer or employee knows of a decedent without known or suitable next of kin or knows of property of a decedent that is subject to loss, injury, waste, or misappropriation, the officer or employee may inform the public probate administrator of that fact.
(b) If a person dies in a hospital, mental health facility, or board and care facility without known or suitable next of kin, the person in charge of the hospital or facility may give immediate notice of that fact to the public probate administrator of the county in which the hospital or facility is located.

Ask a will, trust or estate question, get an answer ASAP!
Thousands of highly rated, verified estate & trust lawyers.
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

Terms Used In Texas Estates Code 455.005


(c) A funeral director in control of a decedent’s remains may notify the public probate administrator if:
(1) none of the persons listed in Section 711.002, Health and Safety Code, can be found after a reasonable inquiry or contacted by reasonable means; or
(2) any of the persons listed in Section 711.002, Health and Safety Code, refuses to act.