81R4695 MTB-D
By: Hartnett H.B. No. 3350
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to decedents' estates.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 15.007, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 15.007. CONFLICT WITH CERTAIN PROVISIONS.
Notwithstanding Sections 15.004, 15.005, and 15.031, to the
extent that venue under this chapter for a suit by or against an
executor, administrator, or guardian as such, for personal injury,
death, or any property damage related to the personal injury or
death suit conflicts with venue provisions under the Texas Probate
Code, this chapter controls.
SECTION 2. Section 5B(b), Texas Probate Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Except with respect to a cause of action described by
Section 15.007, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, or Section
123.005, Property Code, venue of a cause of action described by
Subsection (a) of this section is proper, as provided by Section
7(a) of this code, in the statutory probate court in which the
estate is pending, and the judge of the statutory probate court may
transfer the cause of action as provided by Subsection (a) of this
section to the statutory probate court, regardless of whether venue
would otherwise be proper or mandatory in the county of the court
from which the action will be transferred. [Notwithstanding any
other provision of this chapter, the proper venue for an action by
or against a personal representative for personal injury, death, or
property damages is determined under Section 15.007, Civil Practice
and Remedies Code.]
SECTION 3. Chapter I, Texas Probate Code, is amended by
adding Section 7 to read as follows:
Sec. 7. VENUE FOR CERTAIN ACTIONS APPERTAINING TO OR
INCIDENT TO AN ESTATE OR IN WHICH PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE IS PARTY.
(a) Except with respect to a cause of action described by Section
15.007, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, venue for the following
is proper in the court in which the estate is pending:
(1) a cause of action appertaining to or incident to a
decedent's estate; and
(2) a cause of action in which the personal
representative of a decedent's estate is a party.
(b) Except with respect to a cause of action described by
Section 15.007, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, venue for a cause
of action against a former personal representative of a decedent's
estate is proper in the court in which the estate is pending or was
last pending.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,
the proper venue for an action by or against a personal
representative for personal injury, death, or any property damages
related to the personal injury or death action is determined under
Section 15.007, Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
SECTION 4. Section 59, Texas Probate Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (a-1) and amending Subsection (b) to read as
follows:
(a-1) As an alternative to the self-proving of a last will
and testament by the affidavits of the testator and the attesting
witnesses under Subsection (a) of this section, a last will and
testament may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made
self-proved before an officer authorized to administer oaths under
the laws of this state, and the testimony of the witnesses in the
probate of the will and testament may be made unnecessary, with the
inclusion in the will and testament of the following in form and
contents substantially as follows:
I, ______________________, as testator, after being duly
sworn, declare to the undersigned witnesses and to the undersigned
authority that this instrument is my last will and testament, that I
have willingly made and executed it in the presence of the
undersigned witnesses, all of whom were present at the same time, as
my free act and deed, and that I have requested each of the
undersigned witnesses to sign this will and testament in my
presence and in the presence of each other. I now sign this will and
testament in the presence of the attesting witnesses and the
undersigned authority on this ______ day of __________,
20________________.
____________________________________
Testator
The undersigned, __________ and __________, each being above
fourteen years of age, after being duly sworn, declare to the
testator and to the undersigned authority that the testator
declared to us that this instrument is the testator's last will and
testament and that the testator requested us to act as witnesses to
the testator's will and testament and signature. The testator then
signed this will and testament in our presence, all of us being
present at the same time. The testator is eighteen years of age or
over (or being under such age, is or has been lawfully married, or
is a member of the armed forces of the United States or of an
auxiliary thereof or of the Maritime Service), and we believe the
testator to be of sound mind. We now sign our names as attesting
witnesses in the presence of the testator, each other, and the
undersigned authority on this __________ day of __________,
20______________.
___________________________
Witness
___________________________
Witness
Subscribed and sworn to before me by the said _________,
testator, and by the said _____________ and ______________,
witnesses, this _____ day of __________, 20____________.
(SEAL)
(Signed)
(Official Capacity of Officer)
(b) An affidavit in form and content substantially as
provided by Subsection (a) of this section is a "self-proving
affidavit." A will with a self-proving affidavit subscribed and
sworn to by the testator and witnesses attached or annexed to the
will, or a will simultaneously executed, attested, and made
self-proved as provided by Subsection (a-1) of this section, is a
"self-proved will." Substantial compliance with the form of the
affidavit provided by Subsection (a) of this section [form of such
affidavit] shall suffice to cause the will to be self-proved. For
this purpose, an affidavit that is subscribed and acknowledged by
the testator and subscribed and sworn to by the witnesses would
suffice as being in substantial compliance. A signature on a
self-proving affidavit as provided by Subsection (a) of this
section is considered a signature to the will if necessary to prove
that the will was signed by the testator or witnesses, or both, but
in that case, the will may not be considered a self-proved will.
SECTION 5. Section 471, Texas Probate Code, is amended by
adding Subdivisions (1-a), (2-a), and (2-b) and amending
Subdivision (2) to read as follows:
(1-a) "Dissolution" means the termination of a marriage
by divorce, annulment, or a declaration that the marriage is void.
(2) "Divorced individual" means an individual whose
marriage has been dissolved[, regardless of whether by divorce or
annulment].
(2-a) "Relative" means an individual who is related to
another individual by consanguinity or affinity, as determined
under Sections 573.022 and 573.024, Government Code, respectively.
(2-b) "Relative of the former spouse" means a relative
of the former spouse who is not a relative of the divorced
individual.
SECTION 6. Chapter XI-A, Texas Probate Code, is amended by
adding Section 471A to read as follows:
Sec. 471A. DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE. For the purposes of
this chapter, a marriage has been "dissolved" if the marriage
terminates as a result of dissolution.
SECTION 7. Sections 472 and 473, Texas Probate Code, are
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 472. REVOCATION OF CERTAIN NONTESTAMENTARY TRANSFERS
ON DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE. (a) Except as otherwise provided by a
court order, the express terms of a trust instrument executed by a
divorced individual before the individual's marriage was
dissolved, or an express provision of a contract relating to the
division of the marital estate entered into between a divorced
individual and the individual's former spouse before, during, or
after the marriage, the dissolution of the marriage revokes the
following:
(1) a revocable disposition or appointment of property
made by a divorced individual to the individual's former spouse or
any relative of the former spouse in a trust instrument executed
before the dissolution of the marriage;
(2) a provision in a trust instrument executed by a
divorced individual before the dissolution of the marriage that
confers a general or special power of appointment on the
individual's former spouse or any relative of the former spouse;
and
(3) a nomination in a trust instrument executed by a
divorced individual before the dissolution of the marriage that
nominates the individual's former spouse or any relative of the
former spouse to serve in a fiduciary or representative capacity,
including as a personal representative, executor, trustee,
conservator, agent, or guardian.
(b) After the dissolution of a marriage, an interest granted
in a provision of a trust instrument that is revoked under
Subsection (a)(1) or (2) of this section passes as if the former
spouse of the divorced individual who executed the trust instrument
or any relative of the former spouse, as applicable, disclaimed the
interest granted in the provision, and an interest granted in a
provision of a trust instrument that is revoked under Subsection
(a)(3) of this section passes as if the former spouse or any
relative of the former spouse, as applicable, died immediately
before the dissolution of the marriage.
Sec. 473. LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN PAYMENTS, BENEFITS, AND
PROPERTY. (a) A bona fide purchaser of property from a divorced
individual's former spouse or any relative of the former spouse or a
person who receives from a divorced individual's former spouse or
any relative of the former spouse a payment, benefit, or property in
partial or full satisfaction of an enforceable obligation:
(1) is not required by this chapter to return the
payment, benefit, or property; and
(2) is not liable under this chapter for the amount of
the payment or the value of the property or benefit.
(b) A divorced individual's former spouse or any relative of
the former spouse who, not for value, receives a payment, benefit,
or property to which the former spouse or the relative of the former
spouse is not entitled as a result of Section 472(a) of this code:
(1) shall return the payment, benefit, or property to
the person who is otherwise entitled to the payment, benefit, or
property as provided by this chapter; or
(2) is personally liable to the person described by
Subdivision (1) of this subsection for the amount of the payment or
the value of the benefit or property received.
SECTION 8. The following sections of the Texas Probate Code
are repealed:
(1) Section 5A(f); and
(2) Section 70.
SECTION 9. (a) Section 7, Texas Probate Code, as added by
this Act, and the changes in law made by this Act to Section 15.007,
Civil Practice and Remedies Code, and Section 5B(b), Texas Probate
Code, apply only to actions commenced on or after the effective date
of this Act. An action that is commenced before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the action
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act to Sections 471, 472,
and 473, Texas Probate Code, as amended by this Act, and Section
471A, Texas Probate Code, as added by this Act, apply only to an
instrument or contract that was executed or entered into before,
on, or after the effective date of this Act by an individual whose
marriage is dissolved on or after the effective date of this Act.
An instrument or contract that was executed or entered into by an
individual whose marriage is dissolved before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the marriage
was dissolved, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.