What Happens If You Die Without a Will in Texas?
By S. Tyler Swain, Managing Partner, The Swain Law Firm, P.C. — Houston, Texas In more than thirty-four years of practicing probate and estate law in Houston, the single most common conversation I have with families is also the most avoidable one. A parent or spouse has passed away, the family is grieving, and someone finally asks the question no one wanted to raise: "Did he leave a will?" When the answer is no, the law steps in and answers a different question for them — who inherits, and in what proportion. That decision is no longer the family's to make. It belongs to the Texas Estates Code. Here is what actually happens, and why it matters more than most people realize. Dying "Intestate" Means the State Writes the Plan When a person dies without a valid will, they are said to have died intestate . Texas law then applies a fixed formula to distribute the estate. It does not consider what the person would have wanted, what was promised verbally, or which chi...