ESTATES CODE

TITLE 3. GUARDIANSHIP AND RELATED PROCEDURES

SUBTITLE D. CREATION OF GUARDIANSHIP

CHAPTER 1106. LETTERS OF GUARDIANSHIP

Sec. 1106.001.  ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE AS LETTERS OF GUARDIANSHIP.  (a)  When a person who is appointed guardian has qualified under Section 1105.002, the clerk shall issue to the guardian a certificate under the court's seal stating:
(1)  the fact of the appointment and of the qualification;
(2)  the date of the appointment and of the qualification; and
(3)  the date the letters of guardianship expire.
(b)  The certificate issued by the clerk under Subsection (a) constitutes letters of guardianship.
Added by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 823 (H.B. 2759), Sec. 1.02, eff. January 1, 2014.
Amended by: 
Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 207 (S.B. 1457), Sec. 12, eff. September 1, 2023.

Sec. 1106.002.  EXPIRATION OF LETTERS OF GUARDIANSHIP.  Letters of guardianship expire one year and four months after the date the letters are issued, unless renewed.
Added by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 823 (H.B. 2759), Sec. 1.02, eff. January 1, 2014.

Sec. 1106.003.  RENEWAL OF LETTERS OF GUARDIANSHIP.  (a)  The clerk may not renew letters of guardianship relating to the appointment of a guardian of the estate until the court receives and approves the guardian's annual account.
(b)  The clerk may not renew letters of guardianship relating to the appointment of a guardian of the person until the court receives and approves the guardian's annual report.
(c)  If a guardian's annual account or annual report is disapproved or is not timely filed, the clerk may not issue further letters of guardianship to the delinquent guardian unless ordered by the court.
(d)  Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, regardless of the date the court approves an annual account or annual report for purposes of this section, a renewal of letters of guardianship relates back to the date the original letters were issued.  If the accounting period has been changed as provided by this title, a renewal relates back to the first day of the accounting period.
Added by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 823 (H.B. 2759), Sec. 1.02, eff. January 1, 2014.

Sec. 1106.004.  REPLACEMENT AND OTHER ADDITIONAL LETTERS OF GUARDIANSHIP.  When letters of guardianship have been destroyed or lost, the clerk shall issue new letters that have the same effect as the original letters.  The clerk shall also issue any number of letters on request of the person who holds the letters.
Added by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 823 (H.B. 2759), Sec. 1.02, eff. January 1, 2014.

Sec. 1106.005.  EFFECT OF LETTERS.  (a)  Letters of guardianship issued as prescribed by Section 1106.001 under the court's seal by the clerk of the court that granted the letters are sufficient evidence of:
(1)  the appointment and qualification of the guardian; and
(2)  the date of qualification.
(b)  The court order that appoints the guardian is evidence of the authority granted to the guardian and of the scope of the powers and duties that the guardian may exercise only after the date letters of guardianship have been issued under Section 1106.001.
Added by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 823 (H.B. 2759), Sec. 1.02, eff. January 1, 2014.
Amended by: 
Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 207 (S.B. 1457), Sec. 13, eff. September 1, 2023.

Sec. 1106.006.  VALIDATION OF CERTAIN LETTERS OF GUARDIANSHIP.  (a)  Letters of guardianship existing on September 1, 1993, that were issued to a nonresident guardian without the procedure or any part of the procedure provided in this chapter, or without a notice or citation required of a resident guardian, are validated as of the letters' dates, to the extent that the absence of the procedure, notice, or citation is concerned.  An otherwise valid conveyance, mineral lease, or other act of a nonresident guardian qualified and acting in connection with the letters of guardianship and under supporting orders of a county or probate court of this state is validated.
(b)  This section does not apply to letters of guardianship, a conveyance, a lease, or another act of a nonresident guardian under this section if the absence of the procedure, notice, or citation involving the letters, conveyance, lease, or other act of the nonresident guardian is an issue in a lawsuit pending in this state on September 1, 1993.
Added by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 823 (H.B. 2759), Sec. 1.02, eff. January 1, 2014.