Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas
A friend of mine recently passed away. She had no family. She left me as the executor of her estate. She also left me her car in her will. She doesn't really have much of an estate, with the car, maybe it's worth about $2000. Because it's so small, I don't want to probate the will either. I don't really want the car and wanted to sell it to pay for her bills. In Texas, I'm aware of the Affidavit of Heirship for a Motor Vehicle form. My question is can I sell it directly to someone else as the executor and transfer the title directly to them or do I have to transfer it to myself first since I'm the "heir" and then sell it.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Sadly, you're jumping the gun here, and the mess may not be one worth spending the money to fix. You are not the heir. If you mean that your friend left you her estate under her Will, the Will must be admitted to probate to be of any effect. You are also not the executor -- at least not yet. That title is conferred upon you by the judge once the Will is admitted to probate.
If you elect not to probate the Will, you're still not the heir. Your friend may have had no family, but she came from somewhere, and the Texas statutes on intestacy spell out a sometimes very complicated formula for determining who is entitled to receive a decedent's estate when they die leaving no Will.
If you want to be able to deal with the car, offering the Will as a muniment of title might be your best option. But even this informal alternative is not always available, and you mentioned some debts that might disqualify the Estate from a muniment proceeding.
It probably wouldn't be impossible to accomplish what you want, but the problems that you have here are larger and more costly than you think.
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