Let me give some extra news on my previous question!?

Question

My husband's aunt dies. A sister to his mom at the age of 94. All sisters and brothers are deceased except my husbands mom. I realize that without a will which we cannot find, her sister or brothers kids get their mom or dad's part. There are 2 nephews living. ALSO THERE IS A SON OF A NIECE LIVING BUT HIS MOM (THE NIECE IS NOT)-IS HE ENTITLED ALSO? We are trying to find the cheapest way out...but if we have to hire a lawyer we will. I think we have to get a right of heirship to sell the house. Her home is appraised at 80,000 and she has contents that we are going to spli up between us all in a fir way. Her husband is dead and they had no children or no children from previous marriages. So all that is left is what I stated above. The sister, two nephews and a nieces son but the niece is dead. We will be looking for Texas laws on this...Thanks, I need help and so far all of you have been so helpful. Please see if this gives you a little more to go on.

Answer 1

Your aunt died intestate--without a Will. Her closest heirs share everything equally if they have the same degree of relationship. So--no children, no parents and no siblings--everything goes to the nieces and nephews. The niece is deceased, so her child takes her share. It looks to me from your question that the estate gets split 3 ways--your husband, his living cousin, and his deceased cousin's child.
Since she died with real estate you have to do a probate to transfer anything with a document of title (gen'ly land, vehicles and bank accounts.) In my state, the probate forms are available at the probate court and you can do this all without an attorney. I'm an atty and I do probates, but I don't live in Texas. I'd charge $400-500 to do this probate. It's a lot of paperwork, but see if you feel you can fill out the forms. Come back and post another question if some term on the forms is foreign to you, but in my state the probate court clerk would explain everything you need to know. I just typed in "texas probate forms" as I was answering this and got a site immediately with a link to "probate forms." Just remember you want the forms for Intestate Succession.

Answer 2

Texas law is rather specific on disposition of assets for the deceased intestate. You should look at the Web site below. The following covers your particular sitation:

D. Type of Distribution
Whenever individuals such as children, grandchildren, siblings and their descendants, cousins, etc. are heirs, you must determine how to divide their shares among them. See Prob. Code § 43.

1. Per Capita
If the heirs are all of the same degree of relationship to the intestate, then they take per capita, i.e., each heir takes the same amount. For example, if all takers are children, each receives an equal share. If all children are deceased, then each grandchild takes an equal share.

2. Per Capita by Representation
If the heirs are of different degrees of relationship to decedent, e.g., children and grandchildren, the younger generation takers share what the older generation taker would have received had that person survived. For example, assume that Grandfather had three children; two of whom predeceased Grandfather. One-third passes to the surviving child, with one-third passing to the children of each deceased child (grandchildren). If each deceased child had a different number of grandchildren, the shares of the grandchildren will be different. For example, if one deceased child had two children, each gets one-sixth; if the other deceased child had three children, each would receive one-ninth.

Answer 3

Under the laws of intestacy, where the deceased person has no issue, the parent would inherit -- i.e. your husband's mom would inherit. In fact, any claim of the rest of the family would be through their descent from her and your husband's dad.