Texas Estates Code 455.008 – Small Estates
(a) If gross assets of an estate do not exceed 20 percent of the maximum amount authorized for a small estate affidavit under Section 205.001, the public probate administrator may act without issuance of letters testamentary or of administration if the court approves a statement of administration stating:
(1) the name and domicile of the decedent;
(2) the date and place of death of the decedent; and
(3) the name, address, and relationship of each known heir or devisee of the decedent.
(b) On approval of the statement of administration, the public probate administrator may:
(1) take possession of, collect, manage, and secure the personal property of the decedent;
(2) sell the decedent’s personal property at private or public sale or auction, without a court order;
(3) distribute personal property to the estate’s personal representative if one is appointed after the statement of administration is filed;
(4) distribute personal property to a distributee of the decedent who presents an affidavit complying with Chapter 205;
(5) sell or abandon perishable property of the decedent if necessary to preserve the estate;
(6) make necessary funeral arrangements for the decedent and pay reasonable funeral charges with estate assets;
(7) distribute to a minor heir or devisee for whom a guardian has not been appointed the share of an intestate estate or a devise to which the heir or devisee is entitled; and
(8) distribute allowances and exempt property as provided by this title.
Terms Used In Texas Estates Code 455.008
- 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
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- 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.
- Devise: To gift property by will.
- Devisee: includes a legatee. See Texas Estates Code 22.009
- Distributee: means a person who is entitled to a part of the estate of a decedent under a lawful will or the statutes of descent and distribution. See Texas Estates Code 22.010
- 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 - 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.
- Heir: means a person who is entitled under the statutes of descent and distribution to a part of the estate of a decedent who dies intestate. See Texas Estates Code 22.015
- Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
- Minor: means a person younger than 18 years of age who:
(1) has never been married; and
(2) has not had the disabilities of minority removed for general purposes. See Texas Estates Code 22.022 - Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Personal property: includes an interest in:
(1) goods;
(2) money;
(3) a chose in action;
(4) an evidence of debt; and
(5) a real chattel. See Texas Estates Code 22.028 - personal representative: include :
(1) an executor and independent executor;
(2) an administrator, independent administrator, and temporary administrator; and
(3) a successor to an executor or administrator listed in Subdivision (1) or (2). See Texas Estates Code 22.031 - Probate: Proving a will
- Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(c) On the distribution of property and internment of the decedent under this section, the public probate administrator shall file with the clerk an affidavit, to be approved by the court, detailing:
(1) the property collected;
(2) the property’s distribution;
(3) the cost of internment; and
(4) the place of internment.