Who Inherits If You Die Without a Will in Texas

No spouse: everything to children and their descendants; if none, to the parents equally (if one parent survives, half to that parent and half to siblings and their descendants); if no parents, to siblings and their descendants; then to the grandparents' lines. Spouse survives: community property goes entirely to the spouse if all the decedent's children are also the spouse's children (or there are none); if the decedent had a child who is not the spouse's child, the decedent's half of the community property goes to the decedent's children. Separate property with children: the spouse gets one-third of the personal property and a life estate in one-third of the land; the children get the rest. Separate property with no children: the spouse gets all personal property and half the land; the other half goes to parents and siblings (all to the spouse if none survive).

Texas is a community property state and has no elective share. Each spouse owns one-half of the community property; at death, a spouse can leave only the decedent's own half of the community property plus the decedent's separate property. Without a will, the community estate passes as described under intestate succession.

Available only when the decedent died without a will. At least 30 days must have passed since death, no petition for a personal representative may be pending or granted, and estate assets (excluding homestead and exempt property) must not exceed $75,000 and must exceed known debts. The affidavit is sworn to by two disinterested witnesses and each distributee with legal capacity, lists all known assets and debts and the family history, is filed with the court clerk, and must be approved by the judge. It does not transfer real estate, except that a homestead that is the only real property may pass if the approved affidavit is recorded in the county deed records.