1-1     By:  Ellis                                            S.B. No. 1553
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 12, 1999; March 15, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
 1-4     March 25, 1999, reported favorably, as amended, by the following
 1-5     vote:  Yeas 3, Nays 0; March 25, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6     COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1                                By:  Ellis
 1-7     Amend S.B. No. 1553 as follows:
 1-8           (1)  On page 1, line 35, delete "or".
 1-9           (2)  On page 1, line 38, after "met" insert "; or".
1-10           (3)  On page 1, after line 41, insert "(7)  a reverse
1-11     mortgage"
1-12                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-13                                   AN ACT
1-14     relating to use of homestead property to secure debts of decedents'
1-15     estates.
1-16           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-17           SECTION 1.  Section 270, Texas Probate Code, is amended to
1-18     read as follows:
1-19           Sec. 270.  LIABILITY OF HOMESTEAD FOR DEBTS.  The homestead
1-20     shall not be liable for the payment of any of the debts of the
1-21     estate, except for:
1-22                 (1)  the purchase money thereof;
1-23                 (2)  [,] the taxes due thereon;
1-24                 (3)  [, or] work and material used in constructing
1-25     improvements thereon if the requirements of Section 50(a)(5),
1-26     Article XVI, Texas Constitution, are met;
1-27                 (4)  an owelty of partition imposed against the
1-28     entirety of the property by court order or by a written agreement
1-29     of the parties to the partition, including a debt of one spouse in
1-30     favor of the other spouse resulting from a division or an award of
1-31     a family homestead in a divorce proceeding;
1-32                 (5)  the refinance of a lien against a homestead,
1-33     including a federal tax lien resulting from the tax debt of both
1-34     spouses, if the homestead is a family homestead, or from the tax
1-35     debt of the decedent; or
1-36                 (6)  an extension of credit on the homestead if the
1-37     requirements of Section 50(a)(6), Article XVI, Texas Constitution,
1-38     are met[; and in this last case only when the work and material are
1-39     contracted for in writing, with the consent of both spouses given
1-40     in the same manner as required in making a sale and conveyance of
1-41     the homestead].
1-42           SECTION 2.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
1-43     the estate of a person who dies on or after the effective date of
1-44     this Act.  An estate of a person who dies before the effective date
1-45     of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date of the
1-46     person's death, and the former law is continued in effect for that
1-47     purpose.
1-48           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-49           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-50     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-51     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-52     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-53     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
1-54                                  * * * * *