Relevance: In a rarity for probate and guardianship legislation, SB1 in the First Called (Special) Session makes some changes to the guardianship portion of the Probate Code. It is primarily a school finance bill, but it has been loaded up with provisions from bills which failed to pass during the regular session. It makes a number of changes to the provisions regarding transfer of guardianship proceedings (Sections 612, 613, 614, 615, 616, 617, 618 and 619), including requiring the guardian of a guardianship that is transferred to give a new bond payable to the court to which the guardianship is transferred or to file a rider to the existing bond noting the court to which the guardianship is transferred. (Section 614) The bill also requires the court to which the guardianship is transferred to conduct a hearing within 90 days to consider modifying the rights, duties, and powers of the guardian. (Section 619) SB1 also alters the procedures for dealing with interstate guardianships (Sections 892, 893, 894 and 895). New Section 895 provides a means for a court in which a guardianship proceeding is pending to determine if it is the most appropriate forum for the guardianship. 

Relevance:  This bill prohibits a charity from disclosing certain information about officers, board members, trustees and members of the charity unless those persons give written consent to the disclosure.  It also prohibits a governmental entity from prohibiting an individual's service on a charity's board or as an officer of a charity based on the individial's donor status or familial relationship to a donor. The bill provides that it does not limit the authority of the attorney general to investigate or enforce laws in accordance with the attorney general's duty to protect the public interest.

Relevance:  This bill would make it clear that inherited IRAs are exempt from creditors' claims.  There are cases nationwide which have gone both ways on this issue. 

The “loser pays” bill signed into law by Governor Perry may impact probate and guardianship practice in Texas.  The Legislature stripped many of the more controversial provisions from the final version of HB 274.  Earlier versions of the bill could have more significantly (and adversely) impacted Texas probate, guardianship and trust law practice.  The biggest problem for probate and guardianship lawyers in the final version is the potential for new Supreme Court rules that alter the way probate and guardianship actions are handled.

Under amendments to Section 22.004 of the Government Code, the Supreme Court must adopt rules that “apply to civil actions in district courts, county courts at law, and statutory probate courts in which the amount in controversy does not exceed $100,000.”  The rules “shall address the need for lowering discovery costs in these actions and the procedure for ensuring that these actions will be expedited in the civil justice system.”  While the Court is not permitted to adopt rules which conflict with the Family Code or the Property Code, there is no carve-out for conflicts with the Probate Code.  (The Property Code exception should apply in trust law cases since the Trust Code is part of the Property Code.)

Relevance: HB 2900 addresses transfers of guardianship (both intrastate and interstate) and the location where a hearing on a guardianship application may be held.

Relevance: This bill makes multiple changes to the decedents' estates portion of the probate code, including repealing Section 29 of the Probate Code, which exempted executors and administrators from the requirement to file an appeal bond, clarifying that there is no statute of limitations for determining heirship, permitting unsecured creditors to initiate probate proceedings (secured creditors already were permitted to do so), prohibiting severance of dueling will applications (both applications must be heard together), tinkering with the notice requirements for removal of independent executors and addressing the disposition of property distributable from an estate to an unknown or missing person.

Relevance:  This bill allows a co-owner of residential property claimed as the co-owner's homestead to place a lien on the property in certain circumstances.  The debt secured by the lien would be solely the obligation of the co-owner, but other co-owners could not repudiate or disaffirm the lien. This bill is intended to permit a co-owner who has paid all of the taxes on a property to create a lien to improve or preserve that property without the consent of other co-owners. This could come in handy in the case of property passing by intestacy to multiple heirs where only one heir occupies the property. 

Relevance:  This bill requires the executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to adopt rules to ensure that, to the extent allowed by federal law, the state Medicaid system is the payor of last resort and provides reimbursement only if, and to the extent, that other public or private sources of payment are not available.

Caption: Relating to the nonsubstantive revision of provisions of the Texas Probate Code relating to durable powers of attorney, guardianships, and other related proceedings and alternatives, and the redesignation of certain other provisions of the Texas Probate Code, including conforming amendments and repeals.
Author: Hartnett
Bill History
Bill Text

Relevance: This is the recodification of the guardianship portion of the Probate Code, as well as the power of attorney portion of the Probate Code, into the new Estates Code, to be effective January 1, 2014. This is intended as a nonsubstantive revision of those statutes and was prepared by the Legislative Council. 

Caption: Relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted codes, to the nonsubstantive codification or disposition of various laws omitted from enacted codes, and to conforming codifications enacted by the 81st Legislature to other Acts of that legislature.
Author: King, Tracy O.
Bill History
Bill Text

Relevance: This is a catch-all bill prepared by the Legislative Council to make corrections to various codes and to make conforming changes caused by other 2009 legislation. For probate attorneys, the most significant provisions amend those portions of the new Estates Code that reflect changes to the old Probate Code made in 2009. These changes are supposed to be nonsubstantive. The new Estates Code becomes effective January 1, 2014.