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Texas Statutes (Last Updated: January 4, 2014) |
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PROBATE CODE |
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Chapter V. PROBATE AND GRANT OF ADMINISTRATION |
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Part 1. ESTATES OF DECEDENTS |
Sec. 72. PROCEEDINGS BEFORE DEATH; ADMINISTRATION IN ABSENCE OF DIRECT EVIDENCE OF DEATH; DISTRIBUTION; LIMITATION OF LIABILITY; RESTORATION OF ESTATE; VALIDATION OF PROCEEDINGS
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(a) The probate of a will or administration of an estate of a living person shall be void; provided, however, that the court shall have jurisdiction to determine the fact, time and place of death, and where application is made for the grant of letters testamentary or of administration upon the estate of a person believed to be dead and there is no direct evidence that such person is dead but the death of such person shall be proved by circumstantial evidence to the satisfaction of the court, such letters shall be granted. Distribution of the estate to the persons entitled thereto shall not be made by the personal representative until after the expiration of three (3) years from the date such letters are granted. If in a subsequent action such person shall be proved by direct evidence to have been living at any time subsequent to the date of grant of such letters, neither the personal representative nor anyone who shall deliver said estate or any part thereof to another under orders of the court shall be liable therefor; and provided further, that such person shall be entitled to restoration of said estate or the residue thereof with the rents and profits therefrom, except real or personal property sold by the personal representative or any distributee, his successors or assigns, to bona fide purchasers for value, in which case the right of such person to the restoration shall be limited to the proceeds of such sale or the residue thereof with the increase thereof. In no event shall the bonds of such personal representative be void provided, however, that the surety shall have no liability for any acts of the personal representative which were done in compliance with or approved by an order of the court. Probate proceedings upon estates of persons believed to be dead brought prior to the effective date of this Act and all such probate proceedings then pending, except such probate proceedings contested in any litigation pending on the effective date of this Act, are hereby validated insofar as the court's finding of death of such person is concerned.
(b) In any case in which the fact of death must be proved by circumstantial evidence, the court, at the request of any interested person, may direct that citation be issued to the person supposed to be dead, and served upon him by publication and by posting, and by such additional means as the court may by its order direct. After letters testamentary or of administration have been issued, the court may also direct the personal representative to make a search for the person supposed to be dead by notifying law enforcement agencies and public welfare agencies in appropriate locations that such person has disappeared, and may further direct that the applicant engage the services of an investigative agency to make a search for such person. The expenses of search and notices shall be taxed as costs and shall be paid out of the property of the estate.