Tex. Est. Code § 255.451 · Subchapter J. JUDICIAL MODIFICATION OR REFORMATION OF WILLS
CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH WILL MAY BE MODIFIED OR REFORMED.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) Subject to the requirements of this section, on the petition of a personal representative, a court may order that the terms of the will be modified or reformed, that the personal representative be directed or permitted to perform acts that are not authorized or that are prohibited by the terms of the will, or that the personal representative be prohibited from performing acts that are required by the terms of the will, if:
(1) modification of administrative, nondispositive terms of the will is necessary or appropriate to prevent waste or impairment of the estate's administration;
(2) the order is necessary or appropriate to achieve the testator's tax objectives or to qualify a distributee for government benefits and is not contrary to the testator's intent; or
(3) the order is necessary to correct a scrivener's error in the terms of the will, even if unambiguous, to conform with the testator's intent.
(a-1) A personal representative seeking to modify or reform a will under this section must file a petition on or before the fourth anniversary of the date the will was admitted to probate.
(b) An order described in Subsection (a)(3) may be issued only if the testator's intent is established by clear and convincing evidence.
(c) Chapter 123, Property Code, applies to a proceeding under Subsection (a) that involves a charitable trust.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 949 (S.B. 995), Sec. 19, eff. September 1, 2015.
Amended by:
Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 844 (H.B. 2271), Sec. 22, eff. September 1, 2017.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ES/htm/ES.255.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 ec11f58bbb279833837f83ac7f4bd14735e8e0bd56f8152d98b7f92576c3d6fa
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
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