THE kiTl.ORNEY GENERAL
OF TEXAS
tich ll, 1957
Han. Jack Welch, Chairman OpinionNo. WW- 51
ccmstitutiona1Amendments clxllcittee
House of Repvesentatives Re: Effect of H.J.R.32, which
Austin,Texas propmesa constitutional
amendmentto conferprobate
jurisdictionon county Court8
at Iaw,upcmthe Texas Robate
Dear Mr. Welch: ssst=.
Pour letterrequestingour opinionrelativeto the captiouedmatter
reads as follows:
"The above describedresolutiouproposestwo changes
iu the articleand sectionreferredto above. The first
change increasesthe maximum couourrentjurisdictionof
the county oourtswith the districtcourtsfrau $l,OOOto
$5,000. The secondproposedchaugecoufersprobate juris-
dictionon alI County Courts at Iaw.
YYe Kocse Cohstitutional&nendmntsCcmmitteeis
concernedwith the imprct of the secoudproposalstated
above upon the probatecourt system iu the State. A copy
of the above describedresolutionis enclosedherewith.
"It will be greatlyappreciatedif you will aualyse
this proposalFn the light of the presentlaw aud furnish
us with your opinionin counectioutherewith.*
The 54th Legislatureby Chapter 55, adopteda probatecode by re-
vising and rearrangingthe statutesof this St&e pertainingto probateand
relatedmatters. We have carefullyexaminedthis "TexasProbateCodes and
have been unableto find any provisionsthereinthat will not be applicable
to County Courts at Iaw in their exerciseof probatemattersin the event
H.J.R.32 is adoptedand such courtsare given generaljurisdictionof a
Protetecourt.
Hon. JackWelch, page 2 (WW- 51)
u(e) 'countyCmrt and mobate COlLF,'3:"Us;~-mn,y-
mouismd dcmotc:couityCOUX%Y l.nthe exe1~&1~~riiLheir
prokate jurisdic;ionand courts especiall;J
creatadand
organh3d for the sole purpose of exercisiq pr&ath
jurisdiction.
w(f) 'CountyJudge,' 'ProbateJudge,'~and*Judge'
dcn.otethe presidiiigj,udgc.
ofmy court haviug original
jurisdictio&ovezprobateproceedings,whetherit be a
co~u~ty~court.tnthe exerciseof its probatejurisdiction
c@ a court &pe$&&i,v.createdand organizedfor the sole
purpose,ofexercisingprobate jurisdiction.
*I(g;'Court'denotesand includesboth a couuty
court in the exerciseof its probatejurisdictionand
a court especiallycreatedand organizedfor the sole
puqose of exercisingprobate jurisdicti0n.u
If 1f.J.R.32 is adoptedall County Courts at Isw will by force of
the Crmstit~tionbacme "ProbateCourtM. The cc-destatesthat *CountyLuxL%~~
and "ProbateCourt" are synonymousand denote county courts in the exerci;e
of their probate jurisdiction.A County Court at Law is in fact a cowity court
with certaiujurisdictional lkitations. ,H.J.R. 72 reumvespart of these juris-
dic~t,iomnal
.Limi.tat'ims
by givingthem the generaljurisdictionof a ProbateCourt.
If H.J.R. 32 is adoptedthe Constit~ztim
will confnr ~nponCounty Courts at kw the
general jurisdictionof a ProbateCourt,
and all the provisionsof the nTexasPro-
bate Code" which are applicablewill apply
to such courtsm
Yours very truly,
WIL.bWIIscN
APPRCVRD;L. AttorneyGeneral
H. Grady Chmdler, Gheirmn
W.~V. Geppert
Assistant
WVG:gs