Bill Text: TX HB3157 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to emergency intervention proceedings concerning a decedent's estate.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-04-05 - Left pending in committee [HB3157 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB3157-Introduced.html
88R3272 KFF-F | ||
By: Leach | H.B. No. 3157 |
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relating to emergency intervention proceedings concerning a | ||
decedent's estate. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 152.001, Estates Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 152.001. APPLICATION AUTHORIZED. (a) Subject to | ||
Subsection (b), a person qualified to serve as an administrator | ||
under Section 304.001 may file an application requesting emergency | ||
intervention by a court exercising probate jurisdiction to provide | ||
for: | ||
(1) the payment or reimbursement of the decedent's | ||
funeral and burial expenses; or | ||
(2) the protection and storage of personal property | ||
owned by the decedent that, on the date of the decedent's death, was | ||
located in accommodations rented by the decedent. | ||
(b) An applicant may file an application under this section | ||
only if: | ||
(1) an application or affidavit has not been filed and | ||
is not pending under Section 256.052, 256.054, or 301.052 or | ||
Chapter 205 or 401; and | ||
(2) the applicant needs to: | ||
(A) obtain funds for the payment or reimbursement | ||
of the decedent's funeral and burial expenses; or | ||
(B) gain access to accommodations rented by the | ||
decedent that contain the decedent's personal property and the | ||
applicant has been denied access to those accommodations. | ||
SECTION 2. Sections 152.002(a) and (b), Estates Code, are | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) An emergency intervention application must be sworn and | ||
must contain: | ||
(1) the applicant's name, address, and interest; | ||
(2) facts showing an immediate necessity for the | ||
issuance of an emergency intervention order under Subchapter B; | ||
(3) the decedent's date of death, place of death, and | ||
residential address on the date of death; | ||
(4) the name and address of the funeral home holding | ||
the decedent's remains or paid by the applicant for the decedent's | ||
funeral and burial; and | ||
(5) the names of any known or ascertainable heirs and | ||
devisees of the decedent. | ||
(b) In addition to the information required under | ||
Subsection (a), if emergency intervention is requested to obtain | ||
funds needed for the payment or reimbursement of the decedent's | ||
funeral and burial expenses, the application must also contain: | ||
(1) the reason any known or ascertainable heirs and | ||
devisees of the decedent: | ||
(A) cannot be contacted; or | ||
(B) have refused to assist in the decedent's | ||
burial; | ||
(2) a description of necessary funeral and burial | ||
procedures and a statement from the funeral home that contains a | ||
detailed and itemized description of the cost of those procedures; | ||
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(3) the name and address of an individual, entity, or | ||
financial institution, including an employer, in possession of any | ||
funds of or due to the decedent, and related account numbers and | ||
balances, if known by the applicant; and | ||
(4) if applicable, the amount paid by the applicant | ||
for the funeral and burial procedures described by Subdivision (2). | ||
SECTION 3. Section 152.003, Estates Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 152.003. ADDITIONAL CONTENTS OF APPLICATION: | ||
INSTRUCTIONS REGARDING DECEDENT'S FUNERAL AND REMAINS. (a) In | ||
addition to the information required under Section 152.002, if | ||
emergency intervention is requested to obtain funds needed for the | ||
payment or reimbursement of a decedent's funeral and burial | ||
expenses, the application must also state whether there are or were | ||
any written instructions from the decedent relating to the type and | ||
manner of funeral or burial preferred by the decedent. The | ||
applicant shall: | ||
(1) attach the instructions, if available, to the | ||
application; and | ||
(2) fully comply, or must have fully complied, as | ||
appropriate, with the instructions. | ||
(b) If written instructions do not exist, the applicant may | ||
not permit or have permitted the decedent's remains to be cremated | ||
unless the applicant obtains or obtained the court's permission to | ||
cremate the remains. | ||
SECTION 4. Section 152.004, Estates Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 152.004. TIME AND PLACE OF FILING. An emergency | ||
intervention application must be filed: | ||
(1) with the court clerk in the county in which: | ||
(A) the decedent was domiciled; or | ||
(B) the accommodations rented by the decedent | ||
that contain the decedent's personal property are located; and | ||
(2) not earlier than the third day after the date of | ||
the decedent's death and not later than nine months [ |
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after the date of the decedent's death. | ||
SECTION 5. Section 152.051, Estates Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 152.051. ISSUANCE OF ORDER REGARDING FUNERAL AND | ||
BURIAL EXPENSES. If on review of an application filed under Section | ||
152.001 the court determines that emergency intervention is | ||
necessary to obtain funds needed for the payment or reimbursement | ||
of a decedent's funeral and burial expenses, the court may order | ||
funds of the decedent that are being held by an individual, an | ||
employer, or a financial institution to be paid directly to a | ||
funeral home or the applicant, as applicable, only for: | ||
(1) reasonable and necessary attorney's fees for the | ||
attorney who obtained the order; | ||
(2) court costs for obtaining the order; and | ||
(3) funeral and burial expenses not to exceed $5,000 | ||
as ordered by the court to provide the decedent with or to provide | ||
reimbursement for a reasonable, dignified, and appropriate funeral | ||
and burial. | ||
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to | ||
an application requesting emergency intervention that is filed on | ||
or after the effective date of this Act. An application that is | ||
filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law | ||
in effect at the time the application was filed, and the former law | ||
is continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |