Legal Question in Medical Leave in Texas

Re: Death without a will

Under the laws of intestacy, the estate will pass as follows.

If any of the deceased spouse�s surviving descendants are not also descendants of the surviving spouse, then the community property is divided. The surviving spouse retains one-half of the community property, that is, the one-half the surviving spouse already owned by virtue of it being community property. The descendants of the deceased spouse inherit the deceased spouse�s one-half of the community property. All of the deceased spouse�s descendants are treated as a group regardless of whether the other parent is or is not the surviving spouse.

Unlike most states, Texas has retained a vestige of the common law distinction between the descent of real property and the distribution of personal property.

The surviving spouse receives one-third of the deceased spouse�s separate personal property with the remaining two-thirds passing to the children or their descendants. These interests are outright.

The surviving spouse receives a life estate in one-third of the deceased spouse�s separate real property. The rest of the property, that is, the outright interest in two-thirds of the separate real property and the remainder interest following the surviving spouse�s life estate passes to the deceased spouse�s children or their descendants.