Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas

My mother died 14 years ago without a will. I have 6 sisters, one of which has since passed away, leaving myself, 5 sisters and 1 niece with inherited property. 3 sisters and 1 niece have signed their inherited part to one sister, still leaving myself and 2 sisters owning the property. Since the other members signed their part to one specific sister does this mean that myself and my other sister that have not signed anything over have less say so in the property or does it only mean that there are less owners? Can the sister that got the other members to sign their part over to her make the remaining 2 sign our parts over to her? I do have an afidavit of heirship that was filed soon after my mother passed away. All it states is that my mother did not have a will at the time of her death and names myself and my sisters as owners of the property.


Asked on 8/26/09, 6:00 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Keith Engelke Law Office of S. Keith Engelke

This is kind of complicated. When your mom died without a will, her property passed to her hiers. Assuming that you and your sisters were her hiers, you each owned 1/7 of your mother's property. You don't provide any information about the sister who died after your mom, such as whether she had a will. Each heir is free to convey her property to anyone. So 3 sisters could convey to another sister. They cannot force you to convey your share to anyone.

You may want to consider selling your share.

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Answered on 8/27/09, 7:19 pm


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