 The laws of inheritance determine who inherits in the following situations:
- A person dies intestate (without a valid will;)
- A person has a valid will but for some reason, usually a mistake or the death of a beneficiary, the will does not dispose of all of the property - the property not disposed of by the valid will, will go to the persons determined by the laws of inheritance; and,
- A person has a will but the will is contested and is not admitted to probate. The person is then treated as if he died intestate (without a will) and the laws of inheritance determine who inherits the estate.
Texas, like all states, has laws of inheritance that determine who inherits a deceased person's estate. It is important to remember that if a person has a valid will that disposes of all of his property, it is the will and not the inheritance laws that determines who inherits the estate. The laws of inheritance determine who inherits only when there is no valid will that disposes of all of the property. To find out who inherits the estate's property if there is no valid will disposing of all of the property, click on one of the following:
- Children, including adopted, pretermitted and illegitimate children;
- Spouses, including common law as well as putative spouses;
- Parents and siblings; and
- Other relatives like nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles.
To find out what kinds of property are subject to the laws of inheritance, click here.
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 A person is allowed to make a will and leave his estate to whomever he wants. It doesn't make any difference if he has a wife and children, he can leave his estate to a Las Vegas Showgirl if that is what he wants to do. However, when he makes his will he must be of sound mind and have the mental capacity to make a will, not be under undue influence and intend to make a will when he signs the document.
If he doesn't make a will before he dies, he dies intestate. He also dies intestate if the will that he makes is contested and not admitted to probate. If there is a forged will, he dies intestate. Finally, if he does not mention all of his property in a will, he dies intestate with regard to the property not mentioned. This might happen when he gives his house to someone but no mention is made of the contents of the house. In all of these cases, his estate passes to his heirs as determined by law.
There are a number of different categories of heirs recognized under the law. Being an heir is important because heirs inherit if a person doesn't make a will or the will is contested and not admitted to probate or if a portion of the will is not upheld by the court. In each of these situations, the property in question will go the the person's heirs.
The several categories of heirs are:
- Spouses - ceremonial and common law spouses;
- Children - natural born, adopted, adopted by estoppel and equitably adopted;
- Parents;
- Bothers and Sisters;
- Aunts and Uncles; and
- Nieces and Nephews.
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