How will my mother's assets be handled if she passes away without a will?

Full question:

I am the 67 yr. old dau. of my 91 year old mother. My mother has lived with my husband and me for the last 10 years (she is widowed). She and my step-dad had wills drawn up about 15 years ago. After the loss of her husband and a move from IL to TX, the will or wills (?) were lost. I called the lawyer who drew them up but she said she did not have a copy. I know this is FOOLISH, but I cannot bring myself ask my Mom to have another drawn up. All her assets are in both our names. My husband and I both have our own wills. When and if she passes away before I do, how will these assets be handled? Will I be the automatic benefactor?

• Category: Wills and Estates
• Subcategory: Probate
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: Texas

Answer:

The handling of your mother's assets will depend on how they are titled. If the assets are held in joint names with rights of survivorship or are transfer-on-death accounts, they will pass directly to you outside of the probate process. This means you would not need to go through probate to claim these assets.

However, if there are other assets that are not jointly owned or do not have designated beneficiaries, those will be subject to probate. If your mother passes away without a valid will, Texas intestacy laws will determine how those assets are distributed. In Texas, if someone dies intestate, their estate is divided according to state laws that distinguish between community property and separate property.

For community property, if your mother has surviving children, they may inherit a portion of her assets. If she has no surviving descendants, you as the surviving spouse would inherit all community property. For separate property, the distribution also varies based on whether there are surviving descendants.

In summary, if the assets are jointly owned or have transfer-on-death designations, you will likely inherit them automatically. For any assets that are not covered by these designations, intestacy laws will apply (Tex. Prob. Code § 45).