By:  Harris                                            S.B. No. 547
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                       AN ACT
 1-1     relating to the classification of certain child support claims
 1-2     against the estate of a decedent.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 322, Texas Probate Code, is amended to
 1-5     read as follows:
 1-6           Sec. 322.  CLASSIFICATION OF CLAIMS AGAINST ESTATES OF
 1-7     DECEDENT.  Claims against an estate of a decedent shall be
 1-8     classified and have priority of payment, as follows:
 1-9           Class 1.  Funeral expenses and expenses of last sickness for
1-10     a reasonable amount to be approved by the court, not to exceed a
1-11     total of Fifteen Thousand Dollars, with any excess to be classified
1-12     and paid as other unsecured claims.
1-13           Class 2.  Expenses of administration and expenses incurred in
1-14     the preservation, safekeeping, and management of the estate.
1-15           Class 3.  Secured claims for money under Section 306(a)(1),
1-16     including tax liens, so far as the same can be paid out of the
1-17     proceeds of the property subject to such mortgage or other lien,
1-18     and when more than one mortgage, lien, or security interest shall
1-19     exist upon the same property, they shall be paid in order of their
1-20     priority.
1-21           Class 4.  Claims for the principal amount of and accrued
1-22     interest on delinquent child support and child support arrearages
1-23     that have been confirmed and reduced to money judgment, as
1-24     determined under Subchapter F, Chapter 157, Family Code.
 2-1           Class  5.  Claims for taxes, penalties, and interest due
 2-2     under Title 2, Tax Code; Chapter 8, Title 132, Revised Statutes;
 2-3     Section 81.111, Natural Resources Code; the Municipal Sales and Use
 2-4     Tax Act (Chapter 321, Tax Code); Section 451.404, Transportation
 2-5     Code; or Subchapter I, Chapter 452, Transportation Code.
 2-6           Class 6 [5].  Claims for the cost of confinement established
 2-7     by the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal
 2-8     Justice under Section 501.017, Government Code.
 2-9           Class 7 [6].  Claims for repayment of medical assistance
2-10     payments made by the state under Chapter 32, Human Resources Code,
2-11     to or for the benefit of the decedent.
2-12           Class 8 [7].  All other claims.
2-13           SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
2-14     applies only to the estate of a decedent who dies on or after that
2-15     date.
2-16           (b)  The estate of a decedent who dies before the effective
2-17     date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date of
2-18     the decedent's death, and the former law is continued in effect for
2-19     that purpose.
2-20           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-21     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-22     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-23     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-24     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.