No will. No letter. Just a house off South Congress, a bank account, a truck, and a family asking who owns what now.
Texas answers that question for you. When a person dies without a valid will, the Texas Estates Code applies a fixed formula called intestate succession, and Chapter 201 sets every share. This guide explains who inherits under Texas intestacy laws, why community property and separate property split on different rules, and why the answer changes when the children are not also the surviving spouse’s children.
What Does Dying Without a Will Mean in Texas?
A person who dies without a valid will dies intestate. Texas law then names the heirs, and a probate court applies the statute without asking what the deceased person would have wanted.
Intestacy is a default, not a punishment. The trouble is that the default was drafted for an average family, and almost no family is average.
Texas intestacy does not recognize:
- a stepchild you raised but never adopted
- an unmarried partner (unless an informal marriage can be proved under Texas Family Code Section 2.401)
- a promise you made out loud to a sibling
Intestacy Only Governs Your Probate Assets
Most people miss this part. Texas intestate succession controls probate assets only. Assets carrying a named beneficiary or a survivorship feature pass outside the probate estate entirely.
Assets that usually pass outside intestacy include:
- a life insurance policy with named beneficiaries
- a retirement account such as a 401(k) or an IRA
- payable on death and transfer on death bank accounts
- real property covered by a recorded transfer on death deed
- accounts held with rights of survivorship
Texas law treats those designations as nontestamentary under Estates Code Section 111.052, so they work without a will. Having no will and having nothing sorted are two different problems.
Community Property and Separate Property Change the Answer
Texas is a community property state, and that single fact drives the outcome. Property acquired during the marriage is generally community property.
Under Texas Family Code Section 3.001, separate property includes:
- property owned or claimed before the marriage
- property received during the marriage by gift or inheritance
- personal injury recoveries, except compensation for lost earning capacity
The same person can die owning both kinds. Community property passes on one set of rules, separate property passes on another, and that is what generic national articles get wrong.
Who Inherits Community Property When a Married Person Dies?
Start with the surprise, because it catches families every time. Under Texas Estates Code Section 201.003, the decedent’s half of the community estate passes to the surviving spouse only when every surviving child is also a child of that spouse.
When a spouse dies leaving a child who is not the surviving spouse’s child, that undivided one half of the community estate passes to the decedent’s own children instead.
In practice, blended families take the hardest hit: a surviving spouse can end up owning half of the family home while stepchildren own the other half. Same house. Two owners who want different things.
How Does Separate Property Pass to a Surviving Spouse?
Separate property follows Texas law under Estates Code Section 201.002 instead. When a married person dies leaving children, the surviving spouse takes one third of the separate personal property and a life estate in one third of the separate real property. The surviving children take the other two thirds of the personal property and the remainder interest in the land.
Notice what is missing. The spouse does not own that land outright, even when the children are also her biological children.
What If a Married Person Dies With No Children?
The share improves. It is still not everything. The surviving spouse takes all of the separate personal property and one half of the separate real property, and the other half of the property passes to the deceased person’s surviving parents, siblings, or their descendants.
The entire estate passes to the spouse only when no parent, sibling, or descendant of a sibling survives. Parents survive more often than people assume.
Who Inherits When a Single Person Dies Without a Will?
Texas Estates Code Section 201.001 controls when a person dies without a spouse. The estate passes first to the surviving children and their descendants, divided equally under the per capita with representation rules in Section 201.101, so grandchildren step into a deceased parent’s share.
A single person with no children hands the question upward. Surviving parents take the entire estate in equal portions.
What Is the Order of Inheritance Without a Will in Texas?
Texas intestate succession runs down a ladder and stops at the first rung with a living heir:
- surviving children, and grandchildren in a deceased child’s place
- surviving parents, sharing equally if both parents survive
- one parent plus siblings and their descendants, one half each
- siblings and their descendants alone if no parent survives
- grandparents and other relatives, one half traced through each side of the family
Distant relatives inherit more often than families expect. Cousins nobody has met carry inheritance rights once the closer relatives are gone.
What Is the 120-Hour Rule in Texas?
Texas Estates Code Section 121.052 treats a person who does not survive the decedent by 120 hours as having died first for purposes of intestate succession. Five days.
The rule matters most after a crash on I-35 or an illness that takes two family members in one week. It stops assets from passing through one estate and straight into another, and keeps the decedent’s property inside one family line.
Does Texas Take Your Property If You Have No Will?
Almost never. Texas Property Code Section 71.001 allows real and personal property to escheat to the state only when an individual dies intestate and without heirs. That means no spouse, no descendants, no parents, no siblings, and no traceable relatives on either side.
The family tree has to be empty. Escheat is rare, not the ordinary result.
How Does a Family Prove Who the Heirs Are?
No will means no named personal representative, so someone has to ask a probate court to identify the heirs. Austin families file that proceeding in the Travis County Probate Court, and Texas Estates Code Section 202.0025 permits it at any time after death.
Expect it to cost real money:
- a filing fee, citation, and posting
- an attorney ad litem appointed under Section 202.009 to represent unknown heirs
- two disinterested witnesses who knew the family history
- an application for letters of administration, generally filed within four years of death under Section 301.002
A determination of heirship routinely costs a multiple of what a will would have cost. The savings from skipping estate planning land on the people you leave behind.
What Intestacy Cannot Do for Minor Children
Chapter 201 divides property. It says nothing about who raises your children.
A written will can do several things intestacy cannot:
- appoint a guardian for a minor child under Texas Estates Code Section 1104.053
- name the personal representative who settles the estate
- direct an independent administration under Section 401.001, which limits court involvement
- create a trust so a young beneficiary does not receive a lump sum at eighteen
A minor cannot hold an inheritance directly, so naming a guardian for your children and planning where the money lands do different jobs. Skip both, and a judge decides both.
Why Choose The Pabst Law Firm
The Pabst Law Firm is a family-run, boutique estate planning firm in Austin. Frank and Nicky Pabst handle every matter personally. You talk directly to your attorney, not intake staff, paralegals, or layers of case managers.
Planning conversations start with clear, flat-fee-friendly options, so you know the scope up front. We are bilingual. Hablamos español. We serve Austin’s diverse community in English and Spanish.
Get a Free Consultation
A will, a beneficiary review, and a guardian designation take far less time than an heirship proceeding. Call The Pabst Law Firm at (512) 641-2676 or fill out our online form for a free consultation. We serve clients throughout Austin, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Georgetown, Pflugerville, Kyle, Buda, San Marcos, and all of Central Texas.
(512) 641-2676