Falcon Heights, TX Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

After the court appoints an administrator (you, if you applied), the administrator can distribute separate personal property to the children according to the Texas rules of inheritance.  If you are the applicant, you might also want to talk to your attorney about setting aside the home and up to $60,000 in personal property for the widow (you) and about the fact that property purchased during the marriage is assumed to be community property unless proven otherwise.  These days a lot of folks feel entitled to "their" money and stuff before the body is cold.  But no one has authority to distribute anything until a court appoints them executor of a Will or administrator of an estate or signs an Order Approving Small Estate Affidavit.

The right of inheritance by the blood child is cut off by the giving up parental rights and by the subsequent adoption by the new husband of the wife, unless you include her in a will or trust as a specific beneficiary.

In Texas, property paid for before marriage usually does not become community property. The issue is that Texas homestead rights are separate from community ownership interest. A spouse has rights superior to a creditor by virtue of residing in property that the spouse does not own. The title insurance company should be able to provide a document that says he does not have homestead rights without stating that he has an ownership interest in the property. If not, you may consider shopping for a new title company.