Do I have to go through probate in Texas?

In Texas, estates worth $75,000 or less may qualify for a simplified small-estate procedure (personal property only). Estates above that generally require probate through the County Court (Statutory Probate Court).

How long do creditors have to make a claim in Texas?

Texas does not set a fixed creditor window the way most states do, so there is no single number to quote. That does not mean creditors can be ignored — read the notice-to-creditors step for what actually protects a personal representative here.

How long does probate take in Texas?

A typical Texas estate takes 6–12 months. Complications — a contested will, an unsold house, a late-surfacing creditor — extend it.

Does Texas have an estate or inheritance tax?

Texas has no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax. That is not the same as nothing to file: if the estate earns income and you file a federal Form 1041, many states want their own fiduciary return alongside it.

EstateMate › Probate by state › Texas

Settling an estate in Texas

An executor in Texas has to work through the County Court (Statutory Probate Court) and a long list of tasks that have nothing to do with the court. This page sets out what Texas law actually requires at each step, with the section it comes from and the date we last read it.

Probate court: County Court (Statutory Probate Court)
Small-estate shortcut: Estates of $75,000 or less may qualify for a simplified small-estate procedure (personal property only — it will not transfer real estate).
Creditor claim period: No fixed window — see the notice-to-creditors step below for what actually protects you here.
Typical timeline: 6–12 months
State death tax: None — no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax
Community property: Yes — this changes the answer, so characterise each asset before dividing anything.

Immediate

Obtain certified death certificates

Texas death records are not public. Under Health & Safety Code § 191.051 a certified copy goes only to a “properly qualified applicant“, and department rules keep death records restricted for 25 years after the death — so you will be asked to prove who you are and how you are related or entitled. In practice that means the immediate family, the executor or administrator, or someone with a court order. Order from the Texas Department of State Health Services Vital Statistics, or from the Local Registrar in the city or county where the death occurred, which is usually faster. Get several — Texas banks and title companies routinely keep the copy you give them.

Tex. Health & Safety Code § 191.051·last read 2026-08-18

Locate the will (or confirm there is none)

Two things worth knowing, one of them a duty. Under Estates Code § 252.201, whoever has custody of the will must deliver it to the clerk of the court with jurisdiction over the estate on receiving notice of the death — that is an obligation on the custodian, not a favour to the family. And under § 252.001 Texas lets a person deposit their will with the county clerk for safekeeping during their lifetime, for a small fee, sealed and released only to them or on proof of death. So if the will cannot be found, the county clerk’s office where the person lived is worth a call before you conclude they died intestate. Texas also has a hard outer limit: a will generally must be offered for probate within four years of death. If the custodian ignores the duty, Texas gives you a route and it is unusually direct. Under § 252.202 you file a SWORN WRITTEN COMPLAINT that the person has custody of the will, or of any papers belonging to the estate, and the judge SHALL have them cited by personal service to appear and show cause why they should not deliver the will to the court or the papers to the executor. Under § 252.203, if the judge is satisfied they had custody when the complaint was filed and they neither deliver nor show good cause, the judge MAY HAVE THEM ARRESTED AND CONFINED UNTIL THEY DELIVER. And under § 252.204 a person who refuses is liable to anyone aggrieved by the refusal for all damages sustained, recoverable in any court of competent jurisdiction. Note the breadth of § 252.202: it reaches the ESTATE PAPERS as well as the will, so it is the tool for a relative holding deeds, policies or account records and not only for one holding the will itself.

Tex. Est. Code §§ 252.001, 252.201, 252.202, 252.203, 252.204·last read 2026-09-14

Short-term

Claim the family allowances you are entitled to

Texas ties the allowance to a year of maintenance, and to a deadline families miss. Under Tex. Est. Code § 353.101 the court fixes an amount sufficient to maintain the surviving spouse, the minor children and any adult incapacitated child for one year from the date of death. The application must be filed before the inventory, appraisement and list of claims is approved, or before the affidavit in lieu of it is filed — so on the affidavit route that window can close within weeks. If nobody applies the court is to fix the allowance immediately after approval anyway, but do not rely on that. There is a bar worth knowing before you count on the money: no allowance is made for a surviving spouse who has separate property adequate for their own maintenance, or for children with adequate property of their own. The claim turns on what the survivor already has, not on the size of the estate.

Tex. Est. Code § 353.101·last read 2026-08-20

Notify beneficiaries and keep them informed

Texas has a two-step requirement with two separate deadlines, and the second one is the one people miss. Under Estates Code § 308.002 the representative — Including an independent executor — must give notice to each beneficiary named in the will within 60 days of the order admitting the will to probate. Then under § 308.004 you must file with the clerk, within 90 days of that same order, a sworn affidavit (or a certificate signed by your attorney) stating who was notified and when. Independent administration is otherwise famously hands-off in Texas, which is exactly why this filing gets forgotten — it is one of the few things the court actively expects to see from you.

Tex. Est. Code §§ 308.002, 308.004·last read 2026-08-18

Determine if probate is required

Texas gives you more than one shortcut and they are not interchangeable. The Small Estate Affidavit covers up to $75,000 excluding homestead and exempt property, requires 30 days to have passed, and applies only where there is no will. If there is a valid will and no unpaid unsecured debts, muniment of title is usually the better route and avoids administration entirely. Ask which fits before starting either.

Tex. Est. Code § 205.001; ch. 257·last read 2026-08-17

Legal Process

File a petition with the probate court

Texas has a route that barely exists elsewhere and can save an entire administration: muniment of title. If there is a valid will and no unpaid unsecured debts, the will can be admitted purely as proof of ownership — no executor appointed, no bond, no inventory, no ongoing administration. Ask about it before agreeing to anything larger. Otherwise Texas uses independent administration, far less court-supervised than most states, available from the will or by agreement of all distributees. Note separately where Texas draws the line on lawyers, because it runs along these same routes. You have a right to represent yourself, but a self-represented person may not represent others, and only a licensed attorney may represent the interests of a probate estate — so applying for letters testamentary or letters of administration effectively means retaining one. Two routes can be walked without a lawyer. The first is the small estate affidavit under Estates Code chapter 205. The second is muniment of title where you are the sole beneficiary, because then you are acting only for yourself and not for anyone else. Courts warn that chapter 205 is unforgiving: an affidavit prepared incorrectly gets denied even where it was the right procedure, so read your county’s small estate affidavit checklist before you file. Policies are set court by court, so confirm with the probate court in your county.

Tex. Est. Code ch. 205 (small estate affidavit); ch. 257 (muniment of title); ch. 401 (independent administration)·last read 2026-09-15

Inventory all assets and debts

Texas requires a sworn Inventory, Appraisement and List of Claims before the 91st day after the personal representative qualifies — qualification is the trigger, not the date of death and not the date you filed. But § 309.051 opens by carving out an alternative that most independent executors can use and many never hear about. Under § 309.056 an independent executor may instead file an affidavit in lieu of the inventory, within that same 90-day period, if all debts other than secured debts, taxes and administration expenses are paid, and the inventory has been given to each beneficiary entitled to it. The practical difference is privacy: the affidavit goes on the public record, the itemised list of what the estate owns does not — so the family’s assets are not published to anyone who pulls the court file. It is unavailable if the will forbids it, or if such debts remain unpaid. And if the estate qualifies for muniment of title there is no inventory at all, because no representative is appointed. Establish which of the three routes you are on before diarising anything.

Tex. Est. Code §§ 309.051, 309.056·last read 2026-08-19

Publish notice to creditors

Texas requires notice on two tracks with two different deadlines. Under Estates Code § 308.051, within one month of receiving letters you must publish notice to creditors in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the letters were issued — and, if the person owed taxes administered by the Comptroller, send notice to the Comptroller as well. Separately, under § 308.053, within two months you must give direct notice to every creditor you know of holding a claim secured by estate property, such as a mortgage or car loan, and again within a reasonable time if you learn of one later. The published notice does not cover secured creditors — they get told individually. And here is what most guidance gets wrong about Texas: neither of those notices bars anybody. Publishing under § 308.051 starts no claim period at all. The only way to cut an unsecured creditor off is § 308.054, and it is permissive. The personal representative may give notice by a qualified delivery method to an unsecured creditor who has a claim for money against the estate, and that creditor must then present the claim before the 121st day after receiving the notice or it is barred. So in Texas the window is one you choose to open, creditor by creditor. Do nothing and an unsecured claim stays alive on ordinary limitations — which is why this state shows no fixed creditor period rather than a number.

Tex. Est. Code §§ 308.051, 308.053, 308.054·last read 2026-08-19

Administration

Identify and close digital accounts

Texas has adopted RUFADAA as Estates Code chapter 2001, and the rule is narrower than people expect. Under § 2001.101 the content of electronic communications is disclosed only where the deceased person consented to disclosure or a court directs it. Even then you must give the custodian a written request, a certified death certificate, and a certified copy of your letters. Unless they used the provider’s own online tool, you must also give a copy of the will, trust or power of attorney evidencing that consent. Without consent you are generally limited to the catalogue of communications: who, when and what address, but not the substance. Set expectations early with families who assume the executor simply gets the password.

Tex. Est. Code § 2001.101·last read 2026-08-18

Financial Settlement

Pay valid debts and expenses

Texas classifies claims in Est. Code § 355.102, and it is one of the few states that puts the funeral ahead of administration. Class 1 is funeral expenses and the expenses of the last illness, but read the limits: the amount must be reasonable and approved by the court, and it is capped at $15,000 for the funeral and $15,000 for the last illness separately. Anything above those caps does not vanish — it is reclassified and paid as an ordinary unsecured claim, at the bottom. Class 2 is the expenses of administration, together with the expenses of preserving, safekeeping and managing the estate. Class 3 is secured claims for money, including a tax lien, to the extent they can be paid out of the proceeds of the property subject to the lien; where more than one lien sits on the same property they are paid in the order of their own priority. Class 4 is where Texas parts company with most states: delinquent child support and arrearages, once confirmed as a judgment or determined administratively by the Title IV-D agency. Class 5 is state taxes, penalties and interest. Class 6 is the cost of confinement established by the Department of Criminal Justice. Class 7 is repayment to the state of medical assistance paid for the deceased. And Class 8 is everything else, which on an insolvent estate commonly receives little or nothing.

Tex. Est. Code § 355.102·last read 2026-08-27

File required tax returns

Texas has no state income tax, so there is generally no Texas fiduciary income tax return — the federal Form 1041 is the whole of it if the estate earns income. There is no Texas death tax either, and it was removed rather than left dormant. Senate Bill 752 of the 84th Legislature is titled “relating to the repeal of the inheritance tax,” its first section reads “Chapter 211, Tax Code, is repealed,” and it took effect September 1, 2015. The act preserved tax liability that had accrued before that date, which cannot reach anyone dying now. Property in another state may still carry that state’s obligations.

Tex. S.B. 752, 84th Leg., R.S. (2015) (repealing Tex. Tax Code ch. 211)·last read 2026-09-09

Distribution

Distribute assets to heirs

Texas is a community property state, so the first question is whether an asset is community or separate — the rules differ sharply and guidance written for common-law states does not apply. Sorting the two is the real work and is worth an attorney’s time, particularly where the couple moved to Texas from a common-law state or owned property before marrying. For the separate estate, Tex. Est. Code § 201.002 gives the actual shares, and they differ between personal property and land. Where there are children or their descendants: the surviving spouse takes one third of the personal estate, the children and their descendants take the other two thirds, and the spouse takes only a life estate in one third of the land, with the remainder going to the children. That life estate surprises families constantly — the surviving spouse does not own the land outright and cannot leave it to anyone. Where there is no child and no descendant of a child, the same section gives the spouse all of the personal estate and one half of the separate land outright. The other half of the land passes to the deceased’s parents, siblings and their descendants — and only if none of those survive does the spouse take the entire estate. So a childless Texan whose parents or siblings are living does not automatically leave everything to their spouse. Community property is governed by different sections again, which is why sorting the character of each asset comes first. Two disqualification points, and Texas differs from every other state we cover on both. First, § 201.058 says that no conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate — the only carve-out is that where a life insurance beneficiary is convicted and sentenced as a principal or accomplice in wilfully bringing about the insured’s death, the proceeds are paid as the Insurance Code directs. So a criminal conviction does not by itself strip an heir of the ESTATE in Texas, which is the opposite of what most people assume; if that situation arises, take advice rather than reasoning from other states. Second, a parent’s disqualification here is not automatic but ordered. Under § 201.062 a probate court may declare that a parent may not inherit from or through a child under 18, on clear and convincing evidence of one of three things. That the parent voluntarily abandoned and failed to support the child for at least three years before the death, without resuming support. That they abandoned the mother during the pregnancy and through the birth, and have stayed away and unsupporting since. Or that they were convicted or placed on community supervision for being criminally responsible for the death or serious injury of a child under listed Penal Code offences. Somebody has to ask the court for that order. Texas is unusually generous about who counts as a child, and in a direction most people guess wrong. Under § 201.054 an adopted child is the child of the adoptive parents for every purpose, and inherits from and through them and their kindred. But subsection (b) does not close the other door: “the adopted child inherits from and through the child’s natural parent or parents”, subject only to Family Code § 162.507(c). What it does close is the return path — the natural parents and their kindred may not inherit from the adopted child. So a Texas adoptee generally keeps a claim on both birth families as well as the adoptive one, without needing the stepparent adoption other states require. Paternity has its own machinery in § 201.052: a child is the child of the biological father where the Family Code presumption applies, where paternity is adjudicated, where the father adopted the child, or where he signed an acknowledgment of paternity. And there is a route after the death. Under § 201.052(c) and (d) someone claiming to be a biological child, or claiming through one, may petition the probate court, and on clear and convincing evidence is then treated as any other child — though subsection (e) shuts out a father whose parental rights were terminated. Finally § 201.056: nobody inherits unless born before, or in gestation at, the death and surviving 120 hours. Gestation counts from insemination or implantation, and a child born before the 301st day after the death is presumed to have been in gestation.

Tex. Est. Code §§ 201.002, 201.052, 201.054, 201.056, 201.058, 201.062·last read 2026-09-09

Close Estate

File a final accounting and close the estate

Most Texas estates are independent administrations, and closing one looks nothing like a supervised accounting. Under Estates Code § 405.006 an independent executor may simply file a notice of closing estate — an affidavit stating that all known debts have been paid so far as the assets allowed, that the remaining assets have been distributed, and naming the distributees — instead of the fuller closing report under § 405.005. Be aware of the flip side: because nothing forces the issue, a great many Texas independent administrations are simply never closed at all. That leaves the representative’s authority and exposure hanging indefinitely, so closing properly is worth the hour even though no one will chase you for it.

Tex. Est. Code §§ 405.005, 405.006·last read 2026-08-18

Work through this as a checklist

The free Texas checklist tracks where you are across every step, keeps your documents in one place, and tells you what is due next. No payment, no card.

Open the free Texas checklist

EstateMate is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. Every note above cites the section it came from and the date it was last read, so you can check it yourself. Statutes change, and the right answer can turn on facts specific to your family — when something looks close to the line, talk to a Texas probate attorney.