www.TheProbate.Net Blog

Inheritance Questions?

What if there are not enough assets in the estate to pay all of the expenses?

Posted on | February 4, 2009 | No Comments

Today’s word is abatement.

Estate property is liable for debts and expenses of administration.  How are these paid?  Do all of the beneficiaries share this burden equally?

Texas, like most states, specifies a way that the property abates.  The Executor or Administrator is to follow these guidelines:

  1. If the testator has specified a particular way that the Executor or Administrator is to pay these expenses, that direction must be followed.  If the testator did not specify how to pay these expenses, the following property will be used in the following order;
  2. Property not disposed of by the will.  If that is not sufficient to pay the expenses, then;
  3. Personal property of the residuary estate.  The residuary estate is the catch-all bequest in a will such as “All the rest and residue of my personal property, I leave to my wife.”  Then;
  4. Real property of the residuary estate. Then;
  5. General bequests of personal property.  “I give my son 100 Shares of Exxon.”  Then;
  6. General devises of real property.  “I give my daughter one of my houses in Houston.”  Then;
  7. Specific bequests of personal property.  “I give my son my 100 share of Exxon.” This is similar to #5 but notice the difference.  Then, lastly;
  8. Specific devises of real property.  “I give my daughter my house at 124 Main Street, in Houston.”  This is similar to #6 but notice the difference.

Some of the legal issues that arise from abatement involve the Executor or Administrator making choices that do not follow the statute.  The Executor or Administrator may reduce everybody’s share on a percentage basis rather than following the statutory formula.  He might also use one person’s share to pay all of the expenses even though someone else’s property should have been used first.

Category: Probate, Procedure, Property
Tags: >

Comments

Leave a Reply





  • Visit Our Website

    Click here to visit our website.

  • Twitter and Facebook Us

    If you use twitter or facebook and you find an interesting post on this blog, click the facebook or retweet buttons on the entry. That will make it a tweet on twitter or a comment on facebook to share with others.
    Follow us on twitter at @theprobatenet

  • About this blog

    This blog is a place for us, www.TheProbate.Net, to update current events or to post interesting issues relating to inheritance, probate and trustees.
    For a more complete treatment of those issues, visit us at our website www.TheProbate.Net
    If you would like to contact us, go to our website and click the contact us tab at the top of our site.

  • Popular catagories

  • Tags

    Attorneys Banks Beneficiary Burden of Proof Children Contesting Wills Contracts to make will Disclaim Divorce Elder abuse Ex-Pats Execution of will Family Settlement Agreement Fiduciary duty Forgery Fraud Funerals Gifts Illegitimate Incompetent Inheritance Insane delusion Insurance In terrorem Joint accounts Lost will Power of Attorney Preparing will Pretermitted child Probate Procedure Putative Revoke Spouse Time limits Trust Trustee Undue influence Wills witness

  • Recent Posts