How is Community Property Distributed for an Intestate Estate?

The beneficiaries of an Estate have certain rights to property in the Estate. If the deceased person was married, the Estate will likely involve distribution of the deceased’s separate property as well as distribution of community property. If the estate is intestate, the Texas Code distributes community property as follows:

(a) On the intestate death of one of the spouses, the community property estate of the deceased spouse passes to the surviving spouse if:

(1) no child or other descendant of the deceased spouse survives the deceased spouse; or

(2) all surviving children and descendants of the deceased spouse are also children or descendants of the surviving spouse.

(b) On the intestate death of one of the spouses to a marriage, if a child or other descendant of the deceased spouse survives the deceased spouse and the child or descendant is not a child or descendant of the surviving spouse, one-half of the community estate is retained by the surviving spouse and the other one-half passes to the children or descendants of the deceased spouse. The descendants shall inherit only such portion of said property to which they would be entitled under Section 43 of this code. In every case, the community estate passes charged with the debts against it.