Recycle, TX Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

It means two things.  First, you agree that you do not need to know the date of the hearing and be present.  Second, it means that you agree that your stepmother should be able to administer your father's estate free of court supervision.  This means that she does need to submit an inventory but does not need the court's permission to sell, for example, your father's car and does not need to provide an accounting to the court.  A beneficiary may nonetheless request an accountign 15 months after the executor is appointed. Are you sure that a Will is being probated?  Ordinarily, beneficiaries are notified after, not before, a Will is admitted to probate.  In an intestacy, heirs are asked to sign a distributee's waiver of notice and consent to application for independent administration before the hearing.  

It is difficult to answer a question like this without more complete information about the estate, and how the land will transfer in the first place. If your mother passed in July of 2013, you should still have time to "disclaim" your share of the land that might do what you want, but more information about the family is needed. You could simply deed your portion to your brother, but first you need to make sure that you are properly in title to the land, and this approach might involve a need at least to file a gift tax return. Honestly, it's land it must have enough value that it's worth hiring a lawyer to make sure things are done correctly.

A very open ended question.  A very open ended answer is "It depends!" And it does, there are so many things that go into designing and implementing an estate plan that accomplishes your goals based upon your assets, beliefs, wants, etc, that it is impossible to answer without knowing a great deal more. Suggest you engage an estate planning lawyer to assist you.