| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to exercise of authority by a personal representative of a |
|
|
decedent's estate without court approval. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 351.052(a), Estates Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(a) A personal representative of an estate may, without |
|
|
application to or order of the court: |
|
|
(1) release a lien on payment at maturity of the debt |
|
|
secured by the lien; |
|
|
(2) vote stocks by limited or general proxy; |
|
|
(3) pay calls and assessments; |
|
|
(4) insure the estate against liability in appropriate |
|
|
cases; |
|
|
(5) insure estate property against fire, theft, and |
|
|
other hazards; [or] |
|
|
(6) pay taxes, court costs, and bond premiums; |
|
|
(7) hire an accountant, bookkeeper, or other tax |
|
|
professional to assist with any tax filing required for the |
|
|
decedent or the estate; |
|
|
(8) hire a real estate agent to assist with the |
|
|
marketing and selling of any real property of the estate; |
|
|
(9) hire an appraiser to assist with any valuations |
|
|
required for estate property for which the court has not appointed |
|
|
an appraiser to appraise the property; |
|
|
(10) pay all reasonable costs necessary to exercise |
|
|
the personal representative's duty of care under Section 351.101; |
|
|
or |
|
|
(11) pay all reasonable costs related to the exercise |
|
|
of any power listed in Subdivisions (1)-(9). |
|
|
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act to Section |
|
|
351.052(a), Estates Code, apply only to the administration of the |
|
|
estate of a decedent who dies on or after the effective date of this |
|
|
Act. The administration of the estate of a decedent who dies before |
|
|
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on |
|
|
the date of the decedent's death, and the former law is continued in |
|
|
effect for that purpose. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |