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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to certain identifying information contained in the case |
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file maintained by a county clerk for a decedent's estate. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 15, Texas Probate Code, is amended to |
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read as follows: |
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Sec. 15. CASE FILES. (a) The county clerk shall maintain a |
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case file for each decedent's estate in which a probate proceeding |
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has been filed. The case file must contain all orders, judgments, |
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and proceedings of the court and any other probate filing with the |
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court, including all: |
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(1) applications for the probate of wills and for the |
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granting of administration; |
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(2) citations and notices, whether published or |
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posted, with the returns thereon; |
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(3) wills and the testimony upon which the same are |
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admitted to probate, provided that the substance only of |
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depositions shall be recorded; |
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(4) bonds and official oaths; |
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(5) inventories, appraisements, and lists of claims; |
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(6) exhibits and accounts; |
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(7) reports of hiring, renting, or sale; |
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(8) applications for sale or partition of real estate |
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and reports of sale and of commissioners of partition; |
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(9) applications for authority to execute leases for |
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mineral development, or for pooling or unitization of lands, |
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royalty, or other interest in minerals, or to lend or invest money; |
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and |
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(10) reports of lending or investing money. |
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(b) The county clerk may not post on the Internet the |
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following information contained in a decedent's case file: |
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(1) the residential address and phone number of the |
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decedent at the time of the decedent's death; |
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(2) the residential address of the decedent's personal |
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representative or a distributee of the decedent's estate; |
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(3) a phone number of the decedent's personal |
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representative or a distributee of the decedent's estate; |
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(4) a social security number; or |
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(5) identifying financial information. |
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(c) In this section, "identifying financial information" |
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means information that alone or in conjunction with other |
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information can be used to access an account at a financial |
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institution or to access other information regarding an |
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individual's assets, liabilities, or credit, including: |
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(1) an account number; |
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(2) a code word or password; |
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(3) a tax identification number; |
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(4) a driver's license or state identification card |
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number, issued by the Department of Public Safety of the State of |
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Texas or a permit number issued by a state regulatory agency; or |
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(5) any other information held for the purpose of |
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account access or transaction initiation. |
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SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007. |