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 * * * * *