Lose your clairvoyant helmet?You know, Eddie, that is pretty cryptic.
What do you mean by your "father's estate?" Is he deceased?
Didn't mean to sound cryptic. My father is alive. He says that everything is his now. I am okay with that, but I just wanted to confirm his opinion. I am on his side but he has other children who may not feel that way. I have talked to him and now he wants to make a will and leave everything to one son because he does not work. Again I have not problem with his decision. Please excuse my bad wording. English has never been my forte.You know, Eddie, that is pretty cryptic.
What do you mean by your "father's estate?" Is he deceased?
Well, he could be right. It depends on how mother and father owned their assets. Texas intestate succession statute says (and it is more complicated than many states' statutes):My father is alive. He says that everything is his now...
Father can leave his property to whomever he wishes. But, if he intends to leave everything to one son, then he should discuss this with the attorney preparing his will to ensure that the will includes enough explanation to deter a challenge to the will. (Note that I did not say "prevent" a challenge to the will. Nothing can prevent an interested party intent upon challenging the validity of a will from doing so. Whether they can win is another matter. Proper language in the will can deter a challenge, and, if challenged anyway, pretty much ensure that the challenge will be a loser.)If any part of a Texas decedent's estate is not effectively disposed of by will, the intestate share will be distributed in the following order and manner:
1. Surviving spouse. A surviving spouse is generally first in line to get any assets from the intestate estate. However, the amount a surviving spouse is entitled to depends on these situations:
- If there are surviving children or direct descendants of the decedent, the surviving spouse takes one-third of the personal property in the estate, with the balance going to the children and descendants. The surviving spouse is also entitled to an interest in one-third of the land in the estate for the rest of his or her life (a.k.a., a life estate), with the remainder going to the decedent's children and descendants.
- If there are no children of decedent or their descendants, the surviving spouse is entitled to all the personal property in the estate. The surviving spouse also gets outright ownership of one-half of the decedent's lands. The other half of any lands passes according to the distribution rules below (except that the surviving spouse gets everything if there are no surviving father, mother, or siblings, and their descendants, of decedent).
2. Heirs other than surviving spouse. Any part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse as indicated above, or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, passes in the following order to:
Decedent's children and their descendants....
That's OK. Nothing wrong with the English. But your original post was so short that it was difficult to determine what you were asking.Please excuse my bad wording. English has never been my forte.