Gonzalez v. Reliant Energy, Inc., 159 S.W.3d 615 (2005),
affirming, Reliant Energy, Inc. v. Gonzalez, 102 S.W.3d 868 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2003).
Decedent was killed in a work-related accident in Fort Bend County.
Decedent’s residence at the time of his death was in Hidalgo County.
Accordingly, under Probate Code § 6, administration of Decedent’s estate
was opened in Hidalgo County. The court held that the proper venue for
Administrator’s wrongful death claim was in Harris County, the county in
which Decedent’s employer had its principal place of business, because
the venue provisions of Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 15.007 dealing
with actions by or against a personal representative for personal
injury, death or property damage trump the applicable venue provisions
of the Probate Code.
The court engaged in an extensive analysis of the jurisdictional and
venue provisions of the Probate Code. The court explained that the plain
language of § 15.007 provides that its method of venue determination is
superior to the Probate Code venue provisions. Accordingly, § 15.007
limits the statutory probate court’s discretionary authority under
Probate Code § 5B to transfer to itself a wrongful death, personal
injury, or property damage case in which a personal representative of an
estate pending in that court is a party unless the county in which the
probate court is located would also be a county of proper venue under
Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 15.002.
Note: The result in this case appears to have been codified by the 2003
Texas Legislature in H.B. 4 which amended Probate Code §§ 5A, 5B, and
607 to provide that venue of an action by or against a personal
representative for personal injury, death, or property damage is
determined under § 15.007.
Moral: Venue for wrongful death and survival actions is determined
according to Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 15.007, not the Probate
Code.
Note: On the same day, the Texas Supreme Court resolved a conflicting
lower court case involving similar facts by conditionally granting
mandamus directing a probate court to vacate its order granting a
transfer motion under Probate Code § 5B. In re Terex, 48 Tex. S. Ct. J.
477 (2005), granting conditional mandamus to In re Terex, 123 S.W.3d 673
(Tex. App.—El Paso 2003).