1. A Will has No force effect until it is offered to courts for probate and admitted. You can’t just show up to bank with a Will as if you had a power of attorney and collect assets or have the bank turnover funds..
2. A Power of Attorney is void at death. Therefore you can’t legally use it after death.
3. A Will without letters testamentary issued by the court has no legal effect on banks and other financial institutions.
4. A Will does not change title of real property unless probated and offered to courts for probate. You often need an executor deed to go with probate to effect the transfer of title.
5. A surviving widow or spouse doesn’t automatically receive everything by law from the deceased spouse.. If there a children from outside of the marriage or prior to marriage then the estate passes by different rules. The children inherit the decedent’s community share and 2/3 of the separate property.
6. A joint account doesn’t mean the survivor is legally under probate law allowed to take the money even if the bank turns over the money. It needs to have been jwos account otherwise the banks action can be challenged. Unless it is a joint account with survivorship.
7. A Will must be probated within four Years otherwise intestacy laws applies in Texas controlling the probate process. There are exceptions but these can be challenged.
8. A copy of Will is presumed revoked; therefore without an original Will, interested parties can challenge a copy of a Will. .
9. Bequests to divorced spouses under a Will is void and can be challenged.
10. Children born after a Will was created have estate rights. They are treaded as the other children of the decedent as pretermitted children.
11. No contest clause can be challenged and can be deemed void if an action is brought in good faith.
12. Spouses left out of a Will have estate rights. They retain their community property interest and have a life estate in the homestead among other rights.
13. Common law spouse have estate interest as rights of spouse if they lived together; held themselves out as married; and agreed to married.
14. Grandchildren have Estate Inheritance rights. If their parent passed away , they can step in their place under a Will in some cases.
