§ 3. Definitions and Use of Terms
3. Definitions and Use of Terms
Except as otherwise provided by Chapter XIII of this Code, when used in this Code, unless otherwise apparent from the context:
(a) “Authorized corporate surety” means a domestic or foreign corporation authorized to do business in the State of Texas for the purpose of issuing surety, guaranty or indemnity bonds guaranteeing the fidelity of executors and administrators.
(b) “Child” includes an adopted child, whether adopted by any existing or former statutory procedure or by acts of estoppel, but, unless expressly so stated herein, does not include a child who has no presumed father.
(c) “Claims” include liabilities of a decedent which survive, including taxes, whether arising in contract or in tort or otherwise, funeral expenses, the expense of a tombstone, expenses of administration, estate and inheritance taxes, and debts due such estates.
(d) “Corporate fiduciary” means a financial institution as defined by Section 201.101, Finance Code, having trust powers, existing or doing business under the laws of this state, another state, or the United States, which is authorized by law to act under the order or appointment of any court of record, without giving bond, as receiver, trustee, executor, administrator, or, although without general depository powers, depository for any moneys paid into court, or to become sole guarantor or surety in or upon any bond required to be given under the laws of this state.
(e) “County Court” and “Probate Court” are synonymous terms and denote county courts in the exercise of their probate jurisdiction, courts created by statute and authorized to exercise original probate jurisdiction, and district courts exercising probate jurisdiction in contested matters.
(f) “County Judge,” “Probate Judge,” and “Judge” denote the presiding judge of any court having original jurisdiction over probate proceedings, whether it be a county court in the exercise of its probate jurisdiction, a court created by statute and authorized to exercise probate jurisdiction, or a district court exercising probate jurisdiction in contested matters.
(g) “Court” denotes and includes both a county court in the exercise of its probate jurisdiction, a court created by statute and authorized to exercise original probate jurisdiction, or a district court exercising original probate jurisdiction in contested matters.
(h) “Devise,” when used as a noun, includes a testamentary disposition of real or personal property, or of both. When used as a verb, “devise” means to dispose of real or personal property, or of both, by will.
(i) “Devisee” includes legatee.
(j) “Distributee” denotes a person entitled to the estate of a decedent under a lawful will, or under the statutes of descent and distribution.
(k) “Docket” means the probate docket.
(l) “Estate” denotes the real and personal property of a decedent, both as such property originally existed and as from time to time changed in form by sale, reinvestment, or otherwise, and as augmented by any accretions and additions thereto (including any property to be distributed to the representative of the decedent by the trustee of a trust which terminates upon the decedent's death) and substitutions therefor, and as diminished by any decreases therein and distributions therefrom.
(m) “Exempt property” refers to that property of a decedent's estate which is exempt from execution or forced sale by the Constitution or laws of this State, and to the allowance in lieu thereof.
(n) Repealed by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 1039, § 73(1), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.
(o) “Heirs” denote those persons, including the surviving spouse, who are entitled under the statutes of descent and distribution to the estate of a decedent who dies intestate.
(p) “Incapacitated” or “Incapacitated person” means:
(1) a minor;
(2) an adult individual who, because of a physical or mental condition, is substantially unable to provide food, clothing, or shelter for himself or herself, to care for the individual's own physical health, or to manage the individual's own financial affairs; or
(3) a person who must have a guardian appointed to receive funds due the person from any governmental source.
(q) “Independent executor” means the personal representative of an estate under independent administration as provided in Section 145 of this Code. The term “independent executor” includes the term “independent administrator.”
(r) “Interested persons” or “persons interested” means heirs, devisees, spouses, creditors, or any others having a property right in, or claim against, the estate being administered; and anyone interested in the welfare of an incapacitated person, including a minor.
(s) “Legacy” includes any gift or devise by will, whether of personalty or realty. “Legatee” includes any person entitled to a legacy under a will.
(t) “Minors” are all persons under eighteen years of age who have never been married or who have not had disabilities of minority removed for general purposes.
(u) Repealed by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., ch. 602, § 19(2).
(v) “Mortgage” or “Lien” includes deed of trust, vendor's lien, chattel mortgage, mechanic's, materialman's or laborer's lien, judgment, attachment or garnishment lien, pledge by hypothecation, and Federal or State tax liens.
(w) “Net estate” means the real and personal property of a decedent, exclusive of homestead rights, exempt property, the family allowance and enforceable claims against the estate.
(x) “Person” includes natural persons and corporations.
(y) Repealed by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 1039, § 73(1), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.
(z) “Personal property” includes interests in goods, money, choses in action, evidence of debts, and chattels real.
(aa) “Personal representative” or “Representative” includes executor, independent executor, administrator, independent administrator, temporary administrator, together with their successors. The inclusion of independent executors herein shall not be held to subject such representatives to control of the courts in probate matters with respect to settlement of estates except as expressly provided by law.
(bb) “Probate proceeding” is synonymous with the terms “Probate matter,” “Proceeding in probate,” and “Proceedings for probate.” The term means a matter or proceeding related to the estate of a decedent and includes:
(1) the probate of a will, with or without administration of the estate;
(2) the issuance of letters testamentary and of administration;
(3) an heirship determination or small estate affidavit, community property administration, and homestead and family allowances;
(4) an application, petition, motion, or action regarding the probate of a will or an estate administration, including a claim for money owed by the decedent;
(5) a claim arising from an estate administration and any action brought on the claim;
(6) the settling of a personal representative's account of an estate and any other matter related to the settlement, partition, or distribution of an estate; and
(7) a will construction suit.
(cc) “Property” includes both real and personal property.
(dd) “Real property” includes estates and interests in lands, corporeal or incorporeal, legal or equitable, other than chattels real.
(ee) “Surety” includes both personal and corporate sureties.
(ff) “Will” includes codicil; it also includes a testamentary instrument which merely:
(1) appoints an executor or guardian;
(2) directs how property may not be disposed of; or
(3) revokes another will.
(gg) The singular number includes the plural; the plural number includes the singular.
(hh) The masculine gender includes the feminine and neuter.
(ii) “Statutory probate court” means a statutory court designated as a statutory probate court under Chapter 25, Government Code. A county court at law exercising probate jurisdiction is not a statutory probate court under this Code unless the court is designated a statutory probate court under Chapter 25, Government Code.
(jj) “Next of kin” includes an adopted child or his or her descendents and the adoptive parent of the adopted child.
(kk) “Charitable organization” means:
(1) a nonprofit corporation, trust, community chest, fund, foundation, or other entity that is exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [FN1] because the entity is organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, educational, or literary purposes, testing for public safety, prevention of cruelty to children or animals, or promotion of amateur sports competition; or
(2) any other entity or organization that is organized and operated exclusively for the purposes listed in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(ll) “Governmental agency of the state” means:
(1) an incorporated city or town, a county, a public school district, a special-purpose district or authority, or a district, county, or justice of the peace court;
(2) a board, commission, department, office, or other agency in the executive branch of state government, including an institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code;
(3) the legislature or a legislative agency; and
(4) the supreme court, the court of criminal appeals, a court of appeals, or the State Bar of Texas or another judicial agency having statewide jurisdiction.
(mm) “Ward” is a person for whom a guardian has been appointed.
[FN1] 26 U.S.C.A. § 501(c)(3).