My sister's husband died without a will. For whatever reason, when the two of them purchased their home well into their marriage, it was titled in his name alone, and my sister was not shown as an owner.
Q: My sister's husband died without a will. For whatever reason, when the two of them purchased their home well into their marriage, it was titled in his name alone, and my sister was not shown as an owner. Probate has not happened. The two of them had a daughter together and he had another daughter from a prior marriage. Under Texas law, who will inherit the house?
A: There is a presumption under Texas law that the house was owned by the two of them as community property even though it was titled in your brother-in-law's name alone. While there is a slight chance he owned the house as his separate property, that is usually not the case.
For him to have owned the house as his separate property, he would have had to purchase it with money he was given or inherited while they were married, or money he had owned before they got married. (There are other ways to have separate property, but these are the most common.)
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If the house was owned as community property, then your sister will already own half of it, and your brother-in-law's half would have passed in equal shares to his two daughters upon his death. Under Texas law, your sister would have the right to live in the house rent free for the remainder of her life.
If the house was owned by your brother-in-law as his separate property, then the two daughters would inherit full ownership of the house, except that your sister would still have the right to live there rent free for the rest of her life.
This answer assumes your sister and brother-in-law did not sign a marital agreement to the contrary. Most people who never get around to having a will prepared also usually do not pay an attorney to prepare a marital property agreement.
Q: I want to prepare my own transfer on death deed, but I can't find a website where I can simply print out the form and complete it myself. Every site I find wants me to fill out the form online, and I don't want to do that. With so many scams around, I'm hesitant to fill out anything online or provide important information. Are blank forms available somewhere?
A: You can print a blank form at this website: www.texaslawhelp.org.
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You mentioned that you don't want to fill in the form online. But once you complete the form and have it notarized, it must be recorded in the county deed records where it will become a public record viewable by anyone who wants to see what you have done.
The information in this column is intended to provide a general understanding of the law, not legal advice. Ronald Lipman of the Houston law firm Lipman & Associates is board-certified in estate planning and probate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Email questions to: stateyourcase@lipmanpc.com.
Who inherits when one spouse owns a house and leaves no will?
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19.12.2023
My sister's husband died without a will. For whatever reason, when the two of them purchased their home well into their marriage, it was titled in his name alone, and my sister was not shown as an owner.
Q: My sister's husband died without a will. For whatever reason, when the two of them purchased their home well into their marriage, it was titled in his name alone, and my sister was not shown as an owner. Probate has not happened. The two of them had a daughter together and he had another daughter from a prior marriage. Under Texas law, who will inherit the house?
A: There is a presumption under Texas law that the house was owned by the two of them as community property even though it was titled in your brother-in-law's name alone. While there........
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