1-1 By: Goodman (Senate Sponsor - Harris) H.B. No. 1348
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House March 25, 1999;
1-3 March 29, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Jurisprudence; April 15, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable
1-5 Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0;
1-6 April 15, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1348 By: Harris
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to the classification of certain child support claims
1-11 against the estate of a decedent.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Section 322, Texas Probate Code, is amended to
1-14 read as follows:
1-15 Sec. 322. CLASSIFICATION OF CLAIMS AGAINST ESTATES OF
1-16 DECEDENT. Claims against an estate of a decedent shall be
1-17 classified and have priority of payment, as follows:
1-18 Class 1. Funeral expenses and expenses of last sickness for
1-19 a reasonable amount to be approved by the court, not to exceed a
1-20 total of Fifteen Thousand Dollars, with any excess to be classified
1-21 and paid as other unsecured claims.
1-22 Class 2. Expenses of administration and expenses incurred in
1-23 the preservation, safekeeping, and management of the estate.
1-24 Class 3. Secured claims for money under Section 306(a)(1),
1-25 including tax liens, so far as the same can be paid out of the
1-26 proceeds of the property subject to such mortgage or other lien,
1-27 and when more than one mortgage, lien, or security interest shall
1-28 exist upon the same property, they shall be paid in order of their
1-29 priority.
1-30 Class 4. Claims for the principal amount of and accrued
1-31 interest on delinquent child support and child support arrearages
1-32 that have been confirmed and reduced to money judgment, as
1-33 determined under Subchapter F, Chapter 157, Family Code.
1-34 Class 5. Claims for taxes, penalties, and interest due
1-35 under Title 2, Tax Code; Chapter 8, Title 132, Revised Statutes;
1-36 Section 81.111, Natural Resources Code; the Municipal Sales and Use
1-37 Tax Act (Chapter 321, Tax Code); Section 451.404, Transportation
1-38 Code; or Subchapter I, Chapter 452, Transportation Code.
1-39 Class 6 [5]. Claims for the cost of confinement established
1-40 by the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal
1-41 Justice under Section 501.017, Government Code.
1-42 Class 7 [6]. Claims for repayment of medical assistance
1-43 payments made by the state under Chapter 32, Human Resources Code,
1-44 to or for the benefit of the decedent.
1-45 Class 8 [7]. All other claims.
1-46 SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
1-47 applies only to the estate of a decedent who dies on or after that
1-48 date.
1-49 (b) The estate of a decedent who dies before the effective
1-50 date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date of
1-51 the decedent's death, and the former law is continued in effect for
1-52 that purpose.
1-53 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
1-54 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-55 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-56 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-57 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
1-58 * * * * *