By: Alonzo, Thompson of Harris H.B. No. 3160
(Senate Sponsor - West)
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 2015;
May 12, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on State
Affairs; May 19, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 19, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an exception to the period of filing an application for
the grant of letters testamentary or of administration of a
decedent's estate.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 301.002(b), Estates Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) This section does not apply if administration is
necessary to:
(1) receive or recover property due a decedent's
estate; or
(2) prevent real property in a decedent's estate from
becoming a danger to the health, safety, or welfare of the general
public and the applicant for the issuance of letters testamentary
or of administration is a home-rule municipality that is a creditor
of the estate.
SECTION 2. Section 301.151, Estates Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 301.151. GENERAL PROOF REQUIREMENTS. An applicant for
the issuance of letters testamentary or of administration of an
estate must prove to the court's satisfaction that:
(1) the person whose estate is the subject of the
application is dead;
(2) except as provided by Section 301.002(b)(2), four
years have not elapsed since the date of the decedent's death and
before the application;
(3) the court has jurisdiction and venue over the
estate;
(4) citation has been served and returned in the
manner and for the period required by this title; and
(5) the person for whom letters testamentary or of
administration are sought is entitled by law to the letters and is
not disqualified.
SECTION 3. Section 306.002(c), Estates Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) The court may find other instances of necessity for an
administration based on proof before the court, but a necessity is
considered to exist if:
(1) there are two or more debts against the estate;
(2) there is a desire for the county court to partition
the estate among the distributees; [or]
(3) the administration is necessary to receive or
recover funds or other property due the estate; or
(4) the administration is necessary to prevent real
property in a decedent's estate from becoming a danger to the
health, safety, or welfare of the general public.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an application for the grant of letters testamentary or of
administration of a decedent's estate filed on or after the
effective date of this Act. An application for the grant of letters
testamentary or of administration of a decedent's estate filed
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect on the date the application was filed, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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