Note: BCP Real Estate is not a law firm and its employees/owners are not acting as your attorneys. The information contained on this website is provided for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter.
This is one of the most common questions we hear, and the short answer surprises people: ownership usually transfers automatically. When someone dies in Texas without a will, the property passes to their heirs under the state’s intestacy laws at the moment of death. No court order is needed for the transfer itself. What’s missing is the paperwork that proves who those heirs are and updates the records.
Who inherits depends on the family. In general terms, a surviving spouse and the children share the estate, and the rules differ depending on whether the property was separate or community property and whether all the children are from the same marriage. If there’s no spouse, the children typically split it. If there are no children, it can move up to parents and then siblings. Because Texas families are rarely simple, a single house often ends up owned by several people at once, each holding an undivided share of the whole.
That shared ownership is why these situations get complicated. The taxes keep coming due, and if no one pays them, the county can file a lawsuit naming the heirs it can identify. A constable or sheriff’s deputy may serve a citation and an Original Petition. It feels alarming, but it’s the ordinary first step in a civil tax case, not a criminal matter and not a scam.
Sorting out exactly who owns what is something an attorney can formalize through probate or an affidavit of heirship. Heirs can also arrange to pay the back taxes, or, if an heir simply wants out, sell their own share. Selling your portion removes you from the deed and the lawsuit without waiting on everyone else.
A couple of questions we hear a lot:
How do I know what percentage I inherited? That depends on how many heirs there are and the property’s status under Texas law. An attorney or an affidavit of heirship can pin it down, but you generally own a share of the whole property, not a specific piece of it.
Can I sell my share before all of this is figured out? Yes. Your interest passed to you at the time of death, so you can sell the share you inherited even while the rest is still being sorted out.
If you’re looking to remove yourself from a lawsuit and get paid for your interest, no cost to you, call or text us at (469) 708-8003 for an offer today.
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