Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas

Re: Minor child no will.

Get yourself to a lawyer immediately. You cannot take the child's money from the life ins policy and 401(k) to pay for funeral exps or for any of the dad's debts. Those are both exempt assests from creditor claims. Also child may be entitled to some social secuirty benefits until age 18

Re: Minor child no will.

You have a complicated legal matter that would have been much simpler and less expensive if there had been a will, but there is nothing you can do about that now. There is no single "form" to help you. You need a lawyer. There are two main goals in your request. First, you want to preserve the child's assets from wasting by the mother, and second, you want reimbursement for your expenses of burial. In order to preserve the child's assets, you need to file a lawsuit in probate court to request a guardianship. As guardian of the child's money, you can protect the insurance and 401K and manage any social security benefits due to the minor child. You may be guardian of the child's money, even though the mother determines where the child lives. Or you could also request to be in charge of deciding where the child lives, as well. However, you cannot use the child's assets to reimburse expenses of the father's death. In order to get your expenses reimbursed, you need to make a claim against other assets in the father's estate, such as a bank account or real estate. If no estate has been opened, you will need to file a separate lawsuit in probate court to have the court determine the heirs and appoint an administrator for the estate. If you live near the San Antonio area, I would be happy to meet with you about this.