When someone kicks the bucket, everything he or she once owned becomes part of an estate for living people to fuss over. If the estate is large enough, it must pass through the probate process, which is a legal process which formally resolves claims against the estate and distributes property to heirs named by a court or beneficiaries named in a valid will.
Sometimes, a ‘small estate affidavit’ (or maybe an Heirship Affidavit in a chain of title) does the same thing.
Depending on the circumstances, probate can be lengthy and expensive. If no will exists, probate declares the identity of the heirs who receive an inheritance. Sometimes, an heir is omitted from the declaration of heirship (a form of declaratory judgment), leading to a Bill of Review.
But even if a will exists, it may be contested, prolonging the probate process. Typically, people oppose a Will when the Decedent didn’t know what they were doing when the will was made or was subjected to unfair influence or undue pressure (‘duress‘) when it was made.
Decedent Estates concern matters involving declaration of heirship (typically when there is no Will) and either the ‘dependent‘ or ‘independent’administration of the Estate of a dead person (‘Decedent‘).
A dependent administration requires on-going court supervision (the fiduciary is ‘dependent‘ on the court for instruction and approval). An independent administration requires limited on-going court supervision (the fiduciary acts ‘independent‘ of court oversight). As you can imagine, an independent administration of an estate is preferred if you’re interested in saving legal fees.
Dealing with these types of issues can be difficult. But Scott Boates is qualified to help with any Houston Estate, Houston estate contest, Houston probate litigation or Houston will contest you may be facing in Texas Probate Court.