By Ellis                                              S.B. No. 1549
         76R4132 CLG-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the probate of a will as a muniment of title.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 89B(a), Texas Probate Code, is amended to
 1-5     read as follows:
 1-6           (a)  General Proof.  Whenever an applicant seeks to probate a
 1-7     will as a muniment of title, the applicant must first prove to the
 1-8     satisfaction of the court:
 1-9                 (1)  That the person is dead, and if on the date on
1-10     which the application is filed, the person has been dead more than
1-11     [that] four years, that the applicant has met the requirements of
1-12     Section 73 of this code [have not elapsed since the person's death
1-13     and prior to the application]; and
1-14                 (2)  That the court has jurisdiction and venue over the
1-15     estate; and
1-16                 (3)  That citation has been served and returned in the
1-17     manner and for the length of time required by this Code; and
1-18                 (4)  That there are no unpaid debts owing by the estate
1-19     of the testator, excluding debts secured by liens on real estate,
1-20     or that there is no other reason why an administration of the
1-21     estate is necessary.
1-22           SECTION 2.  The changes in law made by this Act to Section
1-23     89B(a), Texas Probate Code, apply only to an application to probate
1-24     a will as a muniment of title filed on or after the effective date
 2-1     of this Act.  An application to probate a will as a muniment of
 2-2     title filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by
 2-3     the law in effect on the date the application was filed, and the
 2-4     former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
 2-5           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
 2-6           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
 2-7     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 2-8     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 2-9     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-10     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.