My name is Dominique. I’m here on behalf of the Houston Lawyer Referral Service and I’m going to talk to you today about Informal Probate.
So, this is a situation where someone has passed away and they don’t have a will. Unfortunately, that happens probably more often than not, but there are ways to dispose of assets after a person dies that do not involve filing a formal probate. So, if the person has what we call a small estate, which consists of less than $75,000, exclusive of their home.
Okay, so we’re talking about cash, cars, things in their house. Then the there is a process in Texas called a small estate affidavit procedure where you can present to the court an affidavit which is signed by two disinterested witnesses who knew the person who died. And who can testify as to the facts of their life – when they were born, when they died, who they were survived by. The more detail on that the better. It would describe for instance if they were married, if they were widowed, if they were divorced and include the facts of those marriages. And then it would include the facts of the children that were born. Or, if they did not have children it would describe that they maybe were survived by parents or by siblings so that affidavit is signed by the person who knew the decedent.
It is notarized by a notary. And then it is presented to the court in a process called the small estate affidavit process. And the affidavit is reviewed by the Probate Court without a hearing. Typically it’s very simple, they don’t call you to court. They’ll just review the affidavit. If it looks fine, if there’s no issues with it, then the judge will sign an order approving that affidavit and you can use that order to transfer title to property.
And really that’s mainly what it’s used for is to transfer title to real estate, transfer maybe even a small bank account. Many financial institutions will accept a small estate affidavit if the amount at issue is small. Or, it can transfer vehicles things like that.
So, the other process that I use a lot for my clients is just a regular affidavit of heirship. It does not go through the court system. It’s just an affidavit, again that names the heirs signed by two disinterested people who knew the decedent. And so you take that affidavit and you record it in the real property records and once it’s recorded the title companies will typically rely on that affidavit to transfer title. Now an heirship affidavit typically will not transfer cash, most financial institutions will not accept that for transfers of cash. They will require letters testamentary or letters of administration, but if you’re only transferring property or a vehicle, it might work for small, very small, accounts then an heirship affidavit is also an option.
So, if you have any questions about this or if you want to talk to a probate attorney who can discuss in more detail these procedures, please contact the Houston Lawyer Referral Service and they will help you. Thank you.