88R2970 EAS-D
 
  By: Dutton H.B. No. 942
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to certain persons who are disqualified from serving as
  the personal representative of a decedent's estate.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 304.003, Estates Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 304.003.  PERSONS DISQUALIFIED TO SERVE AS EXECUTOR OR
  ADMINISTRATOR. A person is not qualified to serve as an executor or
  administrator if the person is:
               (1)  incapacitated;
               (2)  a felon convicted under the laws of the United
  States or of any state of the United States unless, in accordance
  with law, the person has been pardoned or has had the person's civil
  rights restored;
               (3)  a nonresident of this state who:
                     (A)  is a natural person or corporation; and
                     (B)  has not:
                           (i)  appointed a resident agent to accept
  service of process in all actions or proceedings with respect to the
  estate; or
                           (ii)  had that appointment filed with the
  court;
               (4)  a corporation not authorized to act as a fiduciary
  in this state; [or]
               (5)  the spouse of the decedent and, at the time of the
  decedent's death, was a party to:
                     (A)  a suit for the dissolution of marriage under
  Chapter 6, Family Code; 
                     (B)  a suit affecting the parent-child
  relationship under Subtitle B, Title 5, Family Code, involving a
  child of the spouse and the decedent; or 
                     (C)  a suit involving the Department of Family and
  Protective Services under Subtitle E, Title 5, Family Code,
  involving a child of the spouse and the decedent; or 
               (6)  a person whom the court finds unsuitable.
         SECTION 2.  The changes in law made by this Act to Section
  304.003, Estates Code, apply only to an application for the grant of
  letters testamentary or of administration of a decedent's estate
  filed on or after the effective date of this Act. An application for
  the grant of letters testamentary or of administration of a
  decedent's estate filed before that date is governed by the law in
  effect on the date the application was filed, and the former law is
  continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.