When a Texas resident dies without a valid will, the Texas Estates Code decides who inherits, and the answer depends on three things: whether a spouse survives, whether any children came from outside the marriage, and whether each asset is community property, separate personal property, or separate real property. The Texas intestacy chart below walks through each branch of that decision, along with the rules that shift shares (survival timing, adoption, half-blood) and the assets that skip the chart entirely.
Community Property When a Spouse Survives
Texas is a community property state. Almost everything earned or acquired during a marriage belongs equally to both spouses, so on death, only the deceased spouse’s half is up for distribution.
If every surviving child of the deceased is also a child of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse inherits the deceased spouse’s entire share of the community estate. Joint bank accounts, vehicles, and investment portfolios stay with the surviving spouse in full.1State of Texas. Texas Estates Code Section 201.003 – Community Estate of an Intestate
If the deceased leaves any child from a previous relationship, the result flips. The surviving spouse keeps only their own 50 percent of the community property. The deceased’s 50 percent goes to the deceased’s children.1State of Texas. Texas Estates Code Section 201.003 – Community Estate of an Intestate Blended families frequently run into this rule. Half the funds in a joint account or half the equity in a home purchased during the marriage can move to stepchildren, leaving the surviving spouse to share ownership with them.
Separate Personal Property
Separate personal property is movable property one spouse owned before marriage or received individually as a gift or inheritance during it. Cash, vehicles, jewelry, and single-name financial accounts are typical examples.
With a surviving spouse and children, the spouse takes one-third and the children split the remaining two-thirds. A deceased child’s share drops down to that child’s own descendants.2State of Texas. Texas Estates Code Section 201.002 – Separate Estate of an Intestate
With a surviving spouse and no children or descendants, the spouse inherits all the separate personal property.2State of Texas. Texas Estates Code Section 201.002 – Separate Estate of an Intestate
Separate Real Property
Land and permanent structures held as separate property have their own formula, and the surviving spouse gets less than most people expect.
When the deceased leaves a spouse and children, the spouse receives a life estate in one-third of the separate real property. That is a right to use or occupy the one-third portion for life, not ownership that can be sold or passed on. The children take the other two-thirds outright and receive full ownership of the spouse’s one-third once the spouse dies.2State of Texas. Texas Estates Code Section 201.002 – Separate Estate of an Intestate
With no children but surviving parents or siblings, the spouse takes one-half of the separate real property outright. The other half passes down the standard order of descent, typically to the deceased’s parents or siblings. If no parents, siblings, or their descendants survive, the spouse inherits all of it.2State of Texas. Texas Estates Code Section 201.002 – Separate Estate of an Intestate
Homestead Protection
Even when separate real property passes to children or other heirs, the Texas Constitution prevents the homestead from being partitioned among heirs during the surviving spouse’s lifetime, as long as the spouse continues to live there. The protection holds even if the house was the deceased’s separate property. The surviving spouse must keep up the property and pay the taxes and any mortgage interest to preserve the right.
When There Is No Surviving Spouse
Without a spouse, the entire estate flows through a fixed family hierarchy. Once a qualifying relative is found at any level, the search stops there.
- Children and their descendants take the estate in equal shares. A deceased child’s share drops to that child’s own children.
- If no children or descendants survive but both parents do, the parents split the estate equally.
- If only one parent survives, that parent takes half and the deceased’s siblings (and their descendants) share the other half. With no siblings, the surviving parent takes everything.
- If no parents survive, the estate passes to siblings and their descendants.
- If no parents, siblings, or descendants of siblings survive, the estate splits in half. One half traces up the paternal line through grandparents and their descendants; the other half traces up the maternal line the same way. Each side keeps searching until a living relative is found.
The 120-Hour Survival Rule
An heir has to outlive the deceased by at least 120 hours (five full days) to inherit. If the heir dies within that window, the law treats the heir as having died first, and the share moves to the next person in line.4State of Texas. Texas Estates Code Chapter 121 – Survival Requirements
When the timing cannot be established and 120-hour survival cannot be shown, the heir is presumed to have died first. The one exception: the presumption does not apply if it would send the entire estate to the state with no one inheriting.4State of Texas. Texas Estates Code Chapter 121 – Survival Requirements
Adopted Children, Stepchildren, and Half-Blood Relatives
An adopted child is treated exactly like a biological child. The adopted child inherits from and through the adoptive parents and their whole family. Adoption cuts one direction of the chain to the birth family: biological parents and their relatives can no longer inherit from or through the adopted child, but the adopted child keeps the right to inherit from the biological parents.5State of Texas. Texas Estates Code Section 201.054 – Adopted Child
Stepchildren have no intestate inheritance rights in Texas. A stepparent who wants a stepchild to inherit has to legally adopt the child or leave a will naming the child. Length of the relationship does not matter.
When collateral relatives such as siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles inherit, some may share both parents with the deceased (whole blood) while others share only one (half blood). Each half-blood relative takes half the share of each whole-blood relative. If everyone in that generation is half blood, each takes a full share; the reduction applies only when whole-blood and half-blood relatives are competing.6State of Texas. Texas Estates Code Section 201.057 – Collateral Kindred of Whole and Half Blood
When an Heir Causes the Death
Under Section 201.058, a life insurance beneficiary who is convicted and sentenced for willfully causing the insured’s death forfeits those proceeds.7State of Texas. Texas Estates Code Section 201.058 – Convicted Persons Beyond the statute, Texas courts have used equitable doctrines like constructive trusts to keep a killer from profiting through other kinds of inheritance. A criminal conviction is the trigger; accidents, negligence, and justified self-defense do not cause forfeiture.
Assets That Skip the Intestacy Chart
Plenty of what a person owns never touches the chart above. These assets pass directly to named beneficiaries or joint owners regardless of intestacy:
- Life insurance policies, 401(k)s, and IRAs pass to the beneficiary listed on the account.
- Payable-on-death bank accounts transfer automatically to the named beneficiary.
- Joint accounts with right of survivorship go to the surviving account holder.
- Real property with a recorded transfer-on-death deed passes to the deed’s beneficiary.
- Assets held in a living trust go to the trust’s beneficiaries and bypass probate entirely.
One caution for anyone divorced: Texas voids most beneficiary designations naming an ex-spouse on non-probate accounts automatically, but federal law (ERISA) overrides Texas on employer-sponsored plans. If a workplace 401(k) still lists an ex-spouse, that person may still collect.8Texas State Law Library. Nonprobate Property
How Heirs Actually Claim the Property
Knowing the shares is one thing; transferring title is another. For a small estate, Texas allows a small estate affidavit when the total value is $75,000 or less, not counting the homestead or exempt property. The affidavit can transfer a homestead only if it passes to the surviving spouse or minor children; any other real estate takes the small estate affidavit off the table, and the family will need a formal heirship proceeding.9Texas State Law Library. Informal Methods – Probate Law
For larger or more complex estates, or any case where relatives need to be identified across split family lines, the standard path is an application to determine heirship in probate court. A judge reviews the evidence and enters an order naming the legal heirs and their shares.
When No Relative Can Be Found
If no living relative can be located on either the paternal or maternal side, the estate escheats to the State of Texas. Because the search runs indefinitely up through grandparents and their descendants, escheat rarely happens. Courts must exhaust reasonable efforts to find heirs before the state takes the property.