1-1 By: Wentworth S.B. No. 1015
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 12, 1993; March 15, 1993, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
1-4 April 13, 1993, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 6,
1-5 Nays 0; April 13, 1993, sent to printer.)
1-6 COMMITTEE VOTE
1-7 Yea Nay PNV Absent
1-8 Henderson x
1-9 Harris of Tarrant x
1-10 Brown x
1-11 Harris of Dallas x
1-12 Luna x
1-13 Parker x
1-14 West x
1-15 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-16 AN ACT
1-17 relating to the time for requiring a personal representative to
1-18 close an estate.
1-19 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-20 SECTION 1. Section 406, Texas Probate Code, is amended to
1-21 read as follows:
1-22 Sec. 406. Procedure in Case of Neglect or Failure to File
1-23 Final Account; Payments Due Meantime. If a personal representative
1-24 charged with the duty of filing a final account fails or neglects
1-25 so to do at the proper time, the court may <shall>, upon its own
1-26 motion, or shall, upon the written complaint of any one interested
1-27 in the decedent's or ward's estate which has been administered,
1-28 cause such representative to be cited to appear and present such
1-29 account within the time specified in the citation. As to a
1-30 guardianship of a person or estate of a minor or deceased ward when
1-31 no written complaint has been filed by anyone interested in the
1-32 estate, the court may, after two years from the date of the death
1-33 of an incompetent ward or from the date the ward reaches the age of
1-34 majority, remove the estate from the court's active docket without
1-35 the necessity of a final accounting and without appointing a
1-36 successor personal representative. As to a ward whose whereabouts
1-37 becomes unknown to the court for a period of four years when no
1-38 complaint has been filed by anyone interested in the estate, the
1-39 court may remove the estate from its active docket without a final
1-40 accounting and without appointing a successor personal
1-41 representative. As to a decedent's estate, when the whereabouts of
1-42 the personal representative and the heirs are unknown and no
1-43 complaint has been filed by anyone interested in the estate within
1-44 four years after letters testamentary or of administration have
1-45 been issued, the court may close the estate without a final
1-46 accounting and without appointing a successor personal
1-47 representative. Rentals <So far as applicable, this Section shall
1-48 also govern with respect to guardians of the person. Meantime,
1-49 rentals> or other payments becoming due to the ward, his estate, or
1-50 his guardian, between the date the ward's disability terminates or
1-51 the date of the ward's death and the effective date of the
1-52 guardian's discharge may be paid or tendered to the emancipated
1-53 ward, his guardian, or the personal representative of the ward's
1-54 estate, at obligor's option, and such payment or tender shall
1-55 constitute and be an absolute discharge of such matured obligation
1-56 for all purposes to the extent of the amount thus paid or tendered.
1-57 SECTION 2. This Act applies to those estates in which a
1-58 final settlement and accounting has not been filed prior to the
1-59 effective date of this Act.
1-60 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
1-61 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-62 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-63 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-64 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
1-65 * * * * *
1-66 Austin,
1-67 Texas
1-68 April 13, 1993
2-1 Hon. Bob Bullock
2-2 President of the Senate
2-3 Sir:
2-4 We, your Committee on Jurisprudence to which was referred S.B.
2-5 No. 1015, have had the same under consideration, and I am
2-6 instructed to report it back to the Senate with the recommendation
2-7 that it do pass and be printed.
2-8 Henderson,
2-9 Chairman
2-10 * * * * *
2-11 WITNESSES
2-12 FOR AGAINST ON
2-13 ___________________________________________________________________
2-14 Name: Robert Bass x
2-15 Representing: Coalition of Texas Sureties
2-16 City: Austin
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