Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas

My father passed away a year ago. He was the owner of the insurance policy. He had my mom on it as well. After his passing a year later they are saying my mother is not the owner of the policy. Now they want her to get a letter of testimentary. She had sent them his death certificate a year ago and has been paying for a year now. My father had a will making my mom the executor, and giving everything to her. He didn't have an estate. All they had was the house, which was under both of their names. Does she still need this letter to have the policy put under her name? Does she have to go to probate court? How can we get this changed?


Asked on 3/27/12, 10:36 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Mom needs to probate the will. The insurance policy didn't list a beneficiary, which means the money is likely part of Dad's estate. (The term "estate" is just legalese for "stuff.") In order to get access to Dad's stuff, Mom needs permission from the probate court. She can take the will to court, and make an application for letters testamentary (legalese for "permission to do anything that Dad could do if he were still alive.") Once she has the letters, she can ask the insurance company to disburse funds, roll the funds into another product, etc. She can also remove Dad's name from the house. You will need probate counsel to do this.

Dave

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Answered on 3/27/12, 12:22 pm


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