Heirship Proceedings

Inre Bailey  2006 WL 1174224 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth, 2006) involvesa civil rights lawsuit filed for Bryan Bailey when he was sixteen by hismother, Margie, as his next of friend. Baileymarried Kenda shortly after his eighteenth birthday, but died intestateapproximately six months later in a car accident. In 2005, Margie settledBailey’s portion of the law suit for $90,000 plus medical bills.

The court said

Bryan wasborn on May 17, 1984, and turned eighteen on May 17, 2002, before he died. Thus,on May 17, 2002, Margie lost her authority to maintain the suit on his behalf….

In thiscase, there was an administrator appointed. In addition, even if noadministration was necessary, Margie was clearly not the only heir who wouldreceive a share of Bryan’s estate. Notably, under the intestacy scheme, she wasnot even an heir who could inherit personal property such as settlementproceeds, and she does not contest that Kenda, as Bryan’s former spouse, wasgenerally entitled to all of Bryan’s personal property upon his death.