Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas

Re: Heirship when spouse, children and step children are survivors

Q: What happens to an estate when an individual purchases land and several properties prior to a marriage and dies without a will?

A: That property is the decedent's separate property, and will pass under the laws of descent and distribution in the Texas Probate Code.

Q: Are the children, spouse and step children all entitled to the estate?

A: The wife has a life estate in 1/3 of the real estate, with the remaining 2/3 equally to the descedent's children. They will get the wife's 1/3 when she dies. Unless the step-children were adopted, they get nothing.

Q: Also, is the current surviving spouse entitled to land owned by the first (deceased) wife who also did not leave a will?

A: Only a life estate at best. When the first wife died, leaving a spouse and children of that marriage, the surviving husband got it all if the property was community property. He only got a one-third life estate if it was her separate property; her children got the balance when their father died.

Q: And does the current wife automatically inherit all land if she has helped pay property taxes in the past 5 years or so?

A: No. The best the current wife has is a life estate.