Probate Questions

This is for a story I’m writing, so won’t take any of this as legal advice. I have some questions with regards to Probate issues in Texas. For my purposes, there is a will which divides the estate equally amongst the children and appoints one of the children as an executor. The will was drafted by the family lawyer, who retains a copy of it.

  1. Do people actually do the “reading of the will” thing like on TV? Can this happen anywhere or does it take place in the lawyer’s office or at court? If outside court, does it require a court reporter present?

  2. If the will is uncontested, do you actually have to have a court hearing to enter probate? Or do you just file some documents with the court?

  3. If the executor doesn’t want to be the executor, can he appoint someone else? Who has to approve this?

Thanks for your help.

Texas estate administration, eh? Not my field, but I’ll tell you what I know:

  1. My experience here is pretty limited, not having sat around for numerous will readings, so take this part with a grain of salt. In most cases, there’s no necessity for a “reading of the will”, the people named know the contents anyway. The whole everybody gathered around “but papa didn’t leave me anything??” thing is generally Hollywood. I’m sure it happens from time to time, though.

  2. Texas has “independent administration”, which minimizes court involvement if the will is uncontested and nobody objects. After the will is admitted into probate and the executor is qualified, he files an inventory of assets and claims. Thereafter he pays the claims and distributes the estate without court involvement or supervision. There are other types of court-supervised administrations as wee

  3. If he doesn’t want to be independent executor, the court will name a suitable administrator.

Heh…“as well.”

Wee!