In A Texas will, When Does “I Leave The Rest To You” Mean I Don’t Leave The Rest To You?
In a Texas will, the mother said this: “NOW BOBBY I leave the rest to you, everything,...
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Tag: Wills
Is A Will Voidable Because of Public Policy
[mp_image id=”2588″ size=”full” link_type=”custom_url” link=”#” target=”false” caption=”false” align=”left”] Backbround In 2016, the Texas court...
Read MoreCan You Probate An Invalid Will In Texas
[mp_image id=”2573″ size=”full” link_type=”custom_url” link=”#” target=”false” caption=”false” align=”left”] Invalid wills can be admitted to...
Read More10 Reasons Not To Allow Pre-Death Will Contest
[mp_image id=”2508″ size=”full” link_type=”custom_url” link=”#” target=”false” caption=”false” align=”left”] Background Texas does not allow a...
Read MoreDo You Have To Prove Up The Will, The Codicil Or Both In Texas
[mp_image id=”2497″ size=”full” link_type=”custom_url” link=”#” target=”false” caption=”false” align=”left”] What is a Codicil A codicil is a...
Read MoreGetting Someone To Make A Will May Be A Crime
Texas Law
Getting someone to make a will may be a crime in Texas. In a 2015 case out of the Dallas Court of Appeals, a man was convicted of a crime for getting an elderly woman to make a will naming him as a beneficiary. After the woman died, he filed the will for probate. Those actions constituted a crime according to the court of appeals because they were done with criminal intent. The court stated that “If performed with the requisite criminal intent to deprive whoever would otherwise have taken (the deceased’s) property after her death, the conduct alleged in this indictment—causing
(the deceased) to execute a will in his favor and then filing the will for probate—amounts to a criminal offense.” The court upheld a ten year sentence.
Ordinary Wills
This case does not apply to someone who urges an elderly person to make a will. Everyone should be urged to make a will. In the case decided by the Dallas Court of Appeals, there was evidence that the man who was charged, who was not related to the deceased, talked her into making a will for his benefit while she was in the hospital during her last illness. The lady had a child and her previous will named the child as her beneficiary.
How To Disinherit Someone In Texas
How To Disinherit Someone prior to 1991 Before 1991, you could not disinherit your heirs in Texas by stating that in your will. The only way to make sure that an heir did not inherit from you was to give all of your property to...
Read MoreCan An Affidavit Be A Will
An Attorney Prepared the Affidavit In an old Texas case, the attorney testified that the deceased insisted on an affidavit. He refused to make a will because his wife was refusing to make one. The attorney recommended that he...
Read MoreAgreement Not To Contest A Will
Background Although this blog is only about Texas law, a recent case out of Delaware dealt with an unusual issue and the results should be the same in Texas if the issue ever comes up. The Delaware court in 2015 was asked to...
Read MoreContractual Bequest In A Will.
Contractual Bequest The Dallas Court of Appeals decided a case in 2013 that involved this contractual bequest in a will: if you “reside with and care for me until my death…” I’ll give you a million...
Read MoreShould You Tell Your Children What They Will (Or Won’t) Inherit?
Deborah L. Jacobs, a staff writer at Forbes, wrote an article where she listed seven reasons why you should tell your children what they will or won’t inherit. While this is a difficult conversation especially as you age...
Read MoreIs There a Reading of the Will in Texas?
Reading Of The Will In Texas There is no reading of the will in Texas. Reading of the will is something done in Hollywood movies not in real life in Texas. When a will is filed for probate, it becomes a public document and...
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