Estates Code › Title 2 › Chapter 151

Texas Estates Code § 151.001

Examination of Documents or Safe Deposit Box with Court Order

Examination of Documents and Safe Deposit Boxes

(a) A judge of a court that has probate jurisdiction of a decedent's estate may order a person to permit a court representative named in the order to examine a decedent's documents or safe deposit box if it is shown to the judge that:

(1) the person may possess or control the documents or that the person leased the safe deposit box to the decedent; and

(2) the documents or safe deposit box may contain:

(A) a will of the decedent;

(B) a deed to a burial plot in which the decedent is to be buried; or

(C) an insurance policy issued in the decedent's name and payable to a beneficiary named in the policy.

(b) The court representative shall examine the decedent's documents or safe deposit box in the presence of:

(1) the judge ordering the examination or an agent of the judge; and

(2) the person who has possession or control of the documents or who leased the safe deposit box or, if that person is a corporation, an officer of the corporation or an agent of an officer.

Official text of the Texas Estates Code as published by the Texas Legislative Council.

Official source
Legislative history

Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 680 (H.B. 2502), Sec. 1, eff. January 1, 2014.

Sections that refer to this one

§ 151.002