By Ellis                                              S.B. No. 1553
         76R4136 CLG-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to use of homestead property to secure debts of decedents'
 1-3     estates.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 270, Texas Probate Code, is amended to
 1-6     read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 270.  LIABILITY OF HOMESTEAD FOR DEBTS.  The homestead
 1-8     shall not be liable for the payment of any of the debts of the
 1-9     estate, except for:
1-10                 (1)  the purchase money thereof; [,]
1-11                 (2)  the taxes due thereon; [, or]
1-12                 (3)  work and material used in constructing
1-13     improvements thereon if the requirements of Section 50(a)(5),
1-14     Article XVI, Texas  Constitution, are met;
1-15                 (4)  an owelty of partition imposed against the
1-16     entirety of the property by court order or by a written agreement
1-17     of the parties to the partition, including a debt of one spouse in
1-18     favor of the other spouse resulting from a division or an award of
1-19     a family homestead in a divorce proceeding;
1-20                 (5)  the refinance of a lien against a homestead,
1-21     including a federal tax lien resulting from the tax debt of both
1-22     spouses, if the homestead is a family homestead, or from the tax
1-23     debt of the decedent; or
1-24                 (6)  an extension of credit on the homestead if the
 2-1     requirements of Section 50(a)(6), Article XVI, Texas Constitution,
 2-2     are met [; and in this last case only when the work and material
 2-3     are contracted for in writing, with the consent of both spouses
 2-4     given in the same manner as required in making a sale and
 2-5     conveyance of the homestead].
 2-6           SECTION 2.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
 2-7     the estate of a person who dies on or after the effective date of
 2-8     this Act.  An estate of a person who dies before the effective date
 2-9     of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date of the
2-10     person's death, and the former law is continued in effect for that
2-11     purpose.
2-12           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-13           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-14     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-15     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-16     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-17     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.