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.