Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas
A man writes a will. He leaves property to his three grandchildren. He dies. His surviving spouse gets the property. The will is not contested. She dies. Now their daughter gets the property. Years later she dies. Her husband now owns the property. One of the grandchildren die. The husband dies. He leaves the property to the two remaining grandchildren. They decide to sell the property. The adopted children of the deceased grandchild dig until they find the original will that was never honored or contested. They stop the sale, claiming they are entitled to 1/3 of the property. Are they?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Depends. In Texas, in most cases, the decedent could leave his separate property by Will to the three grandchildren with a life-estate to the wife for the home that she is living in and until she moves or passes away.
If the property in the Will was community property, the man would have had no right to Will the entirety of that property to his three grandchildren. He could Will his half, but not the other half as that half would belong to his wife, and again, she would get a life-estate in the home she is living in until she moves or passes away.
And, if the property was held in Joint Rights of Survivorship, then the property would go to the wife completely upon his death.
Further, if the grandchildren did not dispute the ownership of the property transferring to the Wife, and now to other generations or innocent parties, and this much time has passed, there should be numerous arguments that can be made by a qualified probate or litigation attorney. However, research would need to be performed before a response could be provided.
You will need to retain an experienced probate attorney who you will need to pay to research the deeds and the titles and the deed transfers - all the way back, read the Will and case law and then, meet with you to discuss this matter and any defenses or options that you may have.
And, if they have a claim, it appears that the original probate action, if any, would need to be reopened to litigate this matter or a new action in court would need to be filed, such as may have been filed to stop the sale of the property in question. But venue and jurisdiction would also have to be researched and none of this is straight forward.
Goldstein & Scopellite, PC has qualified probate attorneys, real estate lawyers and litigation attorneys available to represent you at either one of their law offices located in Dallas, Texas and Tucson, Arizona - Please visit their websites at www.LawyersDallas.com and www.Lawyers-Tucson.com for more information or to contact them. Thank you.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
