Are These Heirs Able to Really Inherit?

[Dandy Don]

What is the name of your state? TEXAS

An elderly lady dies in Texas in 1989 and has named beneficiaries who were alive at the time she wrote the will (1989) but for some reason (perhaps because the executor didn't find the will until 2007) the will has not been probated until now. The named beneficiaries are now deceased. Do the heirs of the named beneficiaries now stand to inherit or are their rights voided/cancelled because the beneficiaries are now deceased and do those monies that would have gone to the beneficiaries now revert back to the estate for distribution in another manner to someone else? Thanks for any assistance.

 

[nextwife]

What is the name of your state? TEXAS

An elderly lady dies in Texas in 1989 and has named beneficiaries who were alive at the time she wrote the will (1989) but for some reason (perhaps because the executor didn't find the will until 2007) the will has not been probated until now. The named beneficiaries are now deceased. Do the heirs of the named beneficiaries now stand to inherit or are their rights voided/cancelled because the beneficiaries are now deceased and do those monies that would have gone to the beneficiaries now revert back to the estate for distribution in another manner to someone else? Thanks for any assistance.

I would think that the failure of the executor or other family member to promptly probate the will should not be used to deny the deceased's heirs heirs from inheriting what they should have, and would have, inherited if the will had been probated in a timely manner. It is not all those heirs fault, necessarily, that someone didn't take care of this earlier. Had it been done then, the inheritance would have been the property of those now deceased heirs and potentially passed to their estates.

Maybe a family member just wanted to go on living in the house after the decedant passed and not have to sell it to distribute the heir's fair shares?

I'm presuming that nobody filed intestate probate, either?

 

[Dandy Don]

Thank you for your response, nextwife. Also looking for an opinion from an attorney who practices in Texas or who can cite Texas law regarding this matter.

 

[lwpat]

Then retain one an pay him to give you his legal advice.

 

[seniorjudge]

Thank you for your response, nextwife. Also looking for an opinion from an attorney who practices in Texas or who can cite Texas law regarding this matter.

§ 73. PERIOD FOR PROBATE. (a) No will shall be admitted to probate after the lapse of four years from the death of the testator unless it be shown by proof that the party applying for
such probate was not in default in failing to present the same for probate within the four years aforesaid; and in no case shall letters testamentary be issued where a will is admitted to probate after the lapse of four years from the death of the testator.

http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/statutes/docs/PB/content/htm/pb.000.00.v.00.htm

In other words, this looks like it will go intestate.

http://www.finance.cch.com/pops/c50s10d190_TX.asp

 

[VirginiaLaw]

deceased people inherit

When a person survives the deceased party by a specified period of time, their rights to the proceeds from the estate functionally vest. This is usually governed by a simultaneous death provision under state law. The surviving heirs at the time of the original woman's death in 1989 would receive the money. If they are deceased, then the money goes to their estates for distribution in accordance with the laws of intestacy or as designated in the will.

Essentially to properly distribute this money the assets will have to pass from the original woman's estate to the estates of her heirs, to the beneficiaries of those heirs. This could ultimately be a costly process with possible taxes, costs of administration, and numerous disputes arising in the processes.

Based on the statute cited by seniorjudge, I would presume that someone would be able to legitimately invoke the statute thereby wreaking havoc on a long settled estate.