What happens to my property if I die without a will while
unmarried?
The answer depends on whether you have any surviving children
or other living descendants.
In Texas, if you are not married when you die without a
will, but you have living children (or their descendants), all of your property
is divided equally among your living children (or their descendants).
However, if you are not married and had no surviving
children or other descendants when you die, the Texas probate code will attempt
to keep your property “in the family” by looking for your nearest blood
relative(s). In general,
- If you are survived by both of your parents (natural or adopted, but not step-parents), your mother will inherit one-half and your father will inherit the other one-half;
- If you are survived by only one of your parents, and there are no living siblings or descendants of siblings (nieces, nephews, etc.), your surviving parent will inherit everything;
- If you are survived by only one of your parents, and there are living siblings or descendants of siblings (nieces, nephews, etc.), your surviving parent will inherit one-half, and any living siblings (or their descendants) will split the other one-half into equal shares;
- If you are survived by neither of your parents, and there are living siblings or descendants of siblings (nieces, nephews, etc.), any living siblings (or their descendants) will split your property into equal shares; or
- If you are survived by neither of your parents, and there are no living siblings or descendants of siblings (nieces, nephews, etc.), your property is dividing into two halves. One half will go to any living paternal kin – in other words, any living relatives of your father, starting at your grandparent’s generation and looking for any of their descendants – and the other half would go to your maternal relatives, starting at your grandparent’s generation and looking for any of their descendants. The Texas courts will look back as many generations as necessary until they find a living blood relative.
So, that email about your great-uncle’s cousin in South
Africa that you’ve never heard about before, the one who left you a
multi-million dollar estate? Yeah, still
not likely to be true. Always get some
independent confirmation about these matters before you send money or give out
personal identifying information.
Since this situation only happens if you die without a valid
will, you can avoid all of that convoluted analysis by simply making a
will. We highly recommend that everyone
have a will for this reason.
There is a very good explanation with pie charts of the
foregoing here: http://www.co.travis.tx.us/probate/pdfs/DnD_diagrams.pdf.
By: Cynthia W. Veidt
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