How to read the map
Start with ownership, then apply the family branch
Community property
The visualizer shows the decedent's community interest as the 100% being distributed. A surviving spouse normally already owns their own community interest; the note below the result preserves that distinction.
Separate personal property
With a spouse and descendants, Section 201.002 gives the spouse one-third of separate personal property and descendants the other two-thirds. Without descendants, the spouse's branch changes.
Separate real property
A spouse's one-third interest alongside descendants is a life estate, while descendants hold the remainder. That is legally and practically different from dividing a house into three outright shares.
Facts this short calculator cannot resolve
A real heirship analysis begins before percentages. It identifies what the decedent owned, how title was held, whether a beneficiary designation or survivorship agreement controls, and whether a valid will or trust applies. It then builds a documented family tree. Homestead rights, exempt property, family allowance, debts, adoption, parentage, half-blood kin, and relatives who died earlier can all matter.
Use this result to spot questions for a licensed Texas probate attorney—not to transfer, sell, or distribute an asset. For the broader planning picture, read the Texas guide to dying without a will or return to the Texas estate-planning library.
Texas intestacy questions
Does a surviving spouse automatically inherit everything in Texas?
Not always. When someone dies without a valid will, the answer can change with descendants, whether every descendant is also the surviving spouse's descendant, and whether property is community property, separate personal property, or separate real property.
Why does the calculator separate three property categories?
Texas Estates Code Sections 201.002 and 201.003 apply different rules to a community estate and to separate personal and real property. A single blended percentage can therefore be misleading.
Does this determine legal heirship?
No. It is an educational visualization of selected Chapter 201 branches. Courts and licensed Texas attorneys use a fuller record that can include property title, marriages, parentage, adoption, prior deaths, beneficiary designations, debts, and other rights.