Jeter v. McGraw, 218 S.W.3d 850 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 2007, pet. denied).
The district court in a county without a statutory probate court or a
statutory court exercising probate jurisdiction made a determination of
heirship in a factually complex case involving an alleged nonmarital
child. The appellate court explained that Probate Code § 5(b) requires
that such actions be filed in the constitutional county court. Because
this action was not so filed, all judgments of the district court
regarding heirship are void because the court lacked subject matter
jurisdiction over the case.
A dissenting justice opined that this was a dispute over the ownership
of land in a case where no estate was being administered and thus the
district court had subject matter jurisdiction.
Moral: Actions to determine the identity of an heir should be filed in
the court with subject matter jurisdiction as specified in the Probate
Code.