Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas
With a quit claim deed do you still have to probate a will.
My wife's father died in Jan 07. The step-mother told us that there was a will. Her grandson told us that he was the executor of the will and that he had a copy and his lawyer had a copy. The step-mother and the sons got into a fight over some personal property and she told us that there was not going to be a reading of the will. She had a quit claim deed and that she did not have to probate the estate. It is now Sept and still no probate and she has now sold off all of his business that had been in the family for 3 generations.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: With a quit claim deed do you still have to probate a will.
She is telling you that she hasn't had any problems with getting what she wants, so she doesn't intend to probate the will. With a quitclaim deed, there may be some problems proving good title later on if she tries to sell the real estate through a title company. The will is not valid until it goes through probate, and it is up to the person named in the will as executor to get it probated. Usually there is no formal "reading" of the will. If you feel that you are not getting property to which you would be entitled under the will, you can file suit to make her turn over the will and ask the court to appoint the next in line to be executor. However, if it is to be probated at all, it must be probated within 4 years of the date of death of the testator.
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