Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas
Father claims in will, I have no children
MY ex husband died 2/27/02 in his home in Beaumont Texas. He had a will dated nov. 22, 2000 in which he stated he was unmarried (which is true) and he had no children. My daughter is his only child and we can prove heirship. We were married. His estate is about 120,000 and he left entire estate to a friend. I have an attorney, however so far, I have been told the only way we can get anything is to show forgery, undue influence, or he was not in right mind when he signed the will. We can not prove any of these things, I would like to know the Texas law of leaving the daughter out of will by the language I have no children. My common sense tells me there is more that we can do. We did file claim and were able to stop probate, but now, I don't know the next step. These people have already been in his home and removed things. Thank you,
--name removed--gray
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Father claims in will, I have no children
You will need to prove that your daughter is his child, and that she takes as if there was no will as to her portion. Not an easy task, but not in the same category as trying to prove that the will was a forgery or signed under duress.
I expect that probate is in Beaumont, and that you have counsel that litigates probate matters in Beaumont.
Re: Father claims in will, I have no children
Texas law does not require that a parent leave any property to his children. It is a person's right to leave all his property to a friend by valid a Will and, thus, disinherit his only child. There is a rule to protect children who are born after the will is made, but it doesn't appear that will help you, since you seem to be saying that your daughter was born before the will was made. His statement that he had no daughter could perhaps be evidence that he wasn't of sound mind, but you state that you don't think you can prove unsound mind. The statement that he had no children could be interpreted to mean that he had no minor children. The only other suggestion I have is that if he owed you child support, you may be able to make a claim against the estate for that.
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