Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas

Re: Power of Attorney after death with no will

Your son's heirs would receive whatever assets his estate might be entitled to. If the bail documentation refers to you as the one who posted/funded the money why wouldn't you be the one to get it back? What does the bail agreement say? You may need a judgment declaring heirship and/or you might have to open an estate administration and file a claim for repayment of funds you advanced on behalf of your son. Unless the bail amount is significant it might be more expensive to pay for the probate proceedings. Perhaps a death certificate and documentation of the source of the funds might suffice also.

Re: Power of Attorney after death with no will

You can't use a power of attorney, because such a document dies with the power grantor. If the estate is less than $50k (total), and there are no debts (or you've made arrangments for their payment), then you may be able to do a summary procedure in probate court in which you collect the estate assets by means of an affidavit approved and signed by the judge. Once approved, you can then deliver this court order to anyone holding estate assets, and collect the funds that way. The funds would be shared by the heirs at law.