Dutch residents need Texas court help

[Daan Kuster]

Jurisdiction

Texas

Hello,

my brother and I are in need of some guidance or assistance. We are Dutch and reside in the Netherlands. Our father who passed away over 2 years ago had an bank account with the Bank of America. This account was opened many years ago in the state of Texas (Dallas I believe). We are in the process of getting all the documents ready and finalized which the bank advised us in.
The next step according to the Bank would be to get an affidavit (??) from a Texas court in order to close out this account and transfer the funds to us (via a cheque apparently). However, after numerous google searches trying to find a lawyer and going over the Texas and US court system, we are unable to find a lawyer who responded to our questions and we cannot get any further reading up about Texas courts.
I did find that some courts have an "efiling" system but in honesty I am not sure what to fill out or what is needed even.
My question is, why are law firms not responding to our question to assist us (emailed at least 15 firms so far) and my next question would be, is this a difficult case?
Our father was Dutch btw, he did not reside in the states.
Hoping someone can shed some light on this and point us in the right direction going forward.
Thanks for reading.
Daan Kuster

 

[welkin]

Hello,

my brother and I are in need of some guidance or assistance. We are Dutch and reside in the Netherlands. Our father who passed away over 2 years ago had an bank account with the Bank of America. This account was opened many years ago in the state of Texas (Dallas I believe). We are in the process of getting all the documents ready and finalized which the bank advised us in.
The next step according to the Bank would be to get an affidavit (??) from a Texas court in order to close out this account and transfer the funds to us (via a cheque apparently). However, after numerous google searches trying to find a lawyer and going over the Texas and US court system, we are unable to find a lawyer who responded to our questions and we cannot get any further reading up about Texas courts.
I did find that some courts have an "efiling" system but in honesty I am not sure what to fill out or what is needed even.
My question is, why are law firms not responding to our question to assist us (emailed at least 15 firms so far) and my next question would be, is this a difficult case?
Our father was Dutch btw, he did not reside in the states.
Hoping someone can shed some light on this and point us in the right direction going forward.
Thanks for reading.
Daan Kuster

The court you need to deal with is the probate court in the county where either your father resided or where the bank is if he did not reside in the US. If the account is worth $75,000.00 or less you can file a Texas small estate affidavit and get letters of administration from the probate court that will allow you to transact with the bank to close the account and have the money sent to you.

You can go to the self-help website of the county probate court and download the forms you need.

And as far as law offices responding to your inquiries, don't hold your breath. It's just a ploy to find cases that will make them big money. They are not interested in just answering a question or taking on cases that don't churn the till.

 

[Daan Kuster]

Hello,

thank you so much for your message and answers. This actually helped a lot. I currently signed up for a Texas "e-filing" system. But before I proceed would you recommend finding a lawyer first? I have downloaded a "small estate affidavit" form and Noticed some "difficult" questions already. First, our father never lived in the states, and the forms ask information in which county he deceased etc.
The costs to file this case is $222 and I do not want to throw away this fee if the case is not going anywhere.
In your experience, is this a difficult case? Or are the courts helpful and understanding in terms of any paperwork that need to be amended once filed etc?
Again, thanks for your reply.
Daan Kuster