Partitioning house in Texas

Question

My uncle passed recently and left a house. The property was paid off and his widow currently lives in it. As he didn't have kids, we were told that half the house belongs to my grandmother and half to his spouse. The wife has not returned our calls and we are wanting to check on the property. We were told that it would be best to go to court and get it partitioned since she's not willing to speak to anyone. Can anyone fill me in on the process and what rights it gives us? Thanks!

Answer 1

http://www.professorbeyer.com/Articles/I...

Here is a summary of how things get divided, if there is no will. The way I read this, is (if there was no will), all property goes to his spouse.

You really would need to talk to a lawyer, to see if it is correct that 1/2 belongs to the grandmother.  Might save you a trip to court.  

Answer 2

"In the third scenario, someone dies leaving a surviving spouse but does not leave any children or descendants. There, the spouse is entitled to all of the personal property and to one-half of the land of the Estate. The other half of the land would go to the father and mother of the deceased in equal portions. If only one parent survived the deceased, then that share of the land would be divided into two equal portions, one passing to the surviving parent, and the other passing to the siblings of the deceased. If there were no siblings, the entire share would pass to the parent. If no parent survived the deceased, and there were siblings, the entire share would pass to the siblings."

From this site:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Dying-Without-...

Sounds like it would be a good idea to get a lawyer.