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.
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