Mother died in 2006. Daughter continued living in Mother’s home. Neither daughter did anything to settle their mother’s estate.
In 2017, the home suffered hurricane damage. Daughter filed an insurance claim, and the insurance company issued checks payable to Mother. A “friend” got a small-estate affidavit approved naming herself as an heir and cashed the insurance checks.
The Texas appeals court ruled that the bank that cashed the checks could rely on the probate court’s small-estate order.
Lessons learned:
- Get the estate settled. Don’t let it drag on for years. It will only cost more later.
- We can rely on the Texas small-estate process.
- We can file a small-estate affidavit many years after the decedent passes.
Redus v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 5170