Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas

Re: administrator of estates

If I understand your question, you believe you should

receive funds from a will which was probated. There

are several methods of "probating" a will in Texas.

When you say "administrator" I assume you mean the

will was probated as other than an independent

administration. If so, then the "administrator"

probably had to file certain reports to the court.

Most likely the "administrator" had to post a bond

to show faithful administration of the estate. In

the event the "administrator" defrauded some

beneficiaries of the estate by not paying out

money due them (assuming there were sufficient

funds in the estate to pay debts and all bequests)

then the bond might be liable for the payment.

Most of the time, debts of the estate take

precidence over beneficiaries of the will.

You need to go the the courthouse where the will is

filed for probate and ask the county clerk to see

the file. You are entitled to see the file.

When you go through the file, there should be

annual accountings which will show what happened

to the funds of the estate. If the "administrator"

shows in his or her final account that funds were

paid out when they were not, then you need to

contact an attorney or the bonding company. Good luck!