87R6103 EAS-D
 
  By: Krause H.B. No. 1337
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to priority of payment for certain electrical service
  claims against the estates of certain decedents.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 355.102(b), Estates Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  Class 1 claims are composed of funeral expenses, [and]
  expenses of the decedent's last illness, including claims for the
  cost of electrical service provided to the decedent if the decedent
  had been designated as a critical care residential customer, and
  claims for reimbursement of funeral [those] expenses and expenses
  of the decedent's last illness, for a reasonable amount approved by
  the court, not to exceed $15,000 for funeral expenses and $15,000
  for expenses of the decedent's last illness.  Any excess shall be
  classified and paid as other unsecured claims.
         SECTION 2.  Section 355.103, Estates Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 355.103.  PRIORITY OF CERTAIN PAYMENTS. When a
  personal representative has estate funds in the representative's
  possession, the representative shall pay in the following order:
               (1)  funeral expenses in an amount not to exceed
  $15,000 and expenses of the decedent's last illness, including
  claims for the cost of electrical service provided to the decedent
  if the decedent had been designated as a critical care residential
  customer, in an amount not to exceed $15,000;
               (2)  allowances made to the decedent's surviving spouse
  and children, or to either the surviving spouse or children;
               (3)  expenses of administration and expenses incurred
  in preserving, safekeeping, and managing the estate; and
               (4)  other claims against the estate in the order of the
  claims' classifications.
         SECTION 3.  Sections 355.102(b) and 355.103, Estates Code,
  as amended by this Act, apply only to the estate of a decedent who
  dies on or after the effective date of this Act.  The estate of a
  decedent who dies before the effective date of this Act is governed
  by the law in effect on the date of the decedent's death, and the
  former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.