Pyote, TX Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

Because your uncle has a daughter, she is legally entitled to take his property when he passes away under Texas law (assuming he is unmarried with no other children). Your uncle will need to execute a simple will that states you are to inherit from him rather than his daughter. This can be done for a small fee with a reputable estate planning attorney.

Once a Will has been submitted for probate, it becomes a public document and can be read by anyone on the website of or requested from the local probate clerk.  You may think that your mother had no reason to leave things to someone who took care of her when you did not but she may have thought differently.  Since someone can make a Will in a "lucid moment" and a Will must be notarized with two witnesses, it would be very difficult to prove that she did not make the Will of her own accord, whatever her general condition.  In addition, undue influence must be so great as to overpower a person's normal wishes and desires.  While it is easy to imagine that someone was influenced by the care they received in their dying days, it is not so easy to imagine that a Will gifting the person who provided that care was obtained through undue influence.

My sympathy for your loss. You may have a moral obligation but no legal obligation to pay unsecured debts of your late father. If your mother or any other family member never agreed to the debt, they have no obligation to pay the debt. This all assumes that there is no estate opened to transfer assets. If an estate is opened, the estate must give notice of death and a time period for all debtors to make a claim against the estate.