§ 71.022.Qualification of Foreign Personal Representative

A procedural shortcut for the out-of-state estate.

Where the executor or administrator of the estate of a nonresident individual is the plaintiff in a survival action, a foreign personal representative who has complied with Chapter 503 of the Estates Code for the probate of a foreign will is not required to apply for ancillary letters testamentary under Section 501.006 of that code to bring and prosecute the action.

Ancillary letters are the ordinary route. A representative appointed in another state has no authority in Texas as such, and would normally open an ancillary proceeding here to act — a separate probate matter, with its own filings, delay, and cost.

The condition is real, though. The representative must have complied with the foreign will probate requirements, which involve recording the authenticated foreign will and its probate in the Texas county records. The section removes the second step, not the first.

Why it matters more for a survival claim than most estate business is limitations. A survival action is subject to the same two-year period as the underlying personal injury claim, and time spent obtaining ancillary letters is time the clock is running.

An estate that discovers the claim late could lose it entirely to a procedural step that decides nothing about the merits.

The section is confined to bringing and prosecuting the action. It does not give the foreign representative general authority over Texas assets, and distributing a recovery may still require the ordinary machinery.

The wrongful death subchapter contains a parallel provision for its own claims.