Texas estate administration
Small-estate limit: $75,000
This guide explains probate in Texas: In Texas, probate is heard by a statutory probate court (in the largest counties) or by the county court / county court at law elsewhere. Intestate estates under $75,000 (excluding homestead and exempt property) may use a small estate affidavit; opening filing fees are set county-by-county.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.
Available only where the decedent died INTESTATE. Distributees may collect the estate by affidavit if 30 days have elapsed since death, no personal representative is pending or appointed, the estate assets (excluding homestead and exempt property) exceed known liabilities (excluding those secured by homestead/exempt property), and the value of estate assets excluding homestead and exempt property does not exceed $75,000.
Small estate affidavit (Estates Code ch. 205)Simplified route
Available only where the decedent died INTESTATE. Distributees may collect the estate by affidavit if 30 days have elapsed since death, no personal representative is pending or appointed, the estate assets (excluding homestead and exempt property) exceed known liabilities (excluding those secured by homestead/exempt property), and the value of estate assets excluding homestead and exempt property does not exceed $75,000.
Eligibility and caveatsCourt cost
Texas has no single statewide opening probate filing fee. Government/Local Government Code fixes only itemized per-service fees; the amount to open an administration is a consolidated charge set by each county clerk, so it varies by county.
Filing-cost detailExecutor compensation
Estates Code § 352.002 entitles the executor/administrator to a 5% commission on all amounts actually received or paid out in cash in the administration, but the aggregate commission may not exceed 5% of the gross fair market value of the estate. Cash on hand or in accounts at death, life-insurance proceeds, and cash paid to heirs/legatees are excluded from the commission base. Section 352.003 permits alternative reasonable compensation for unusual efforts.
Compensation detailCreditor deadline
No creditor deadline is published here because the governing rule was not verified to this site’s primary-source standard.
Timeline and creditor detailsTexas decision map
Use this map before opening a form or entering a number. It keeps the Texas amount test, time gate, court cost, and creditor record separate so one easy figure does not stand in for the whole administration.
| Question | Recorded Texas answer | Carry into the case |
|---|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Small estate affidavit (Estates Code ch. 205) | Confirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route. |
| What property and basis count? | probate property within the rule's stated scope; gross value with statutory exemptions not classified by this worksheet. | Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately. |
| What is the amount screen? | $75,000 | Establish unsecured debt before treating the screen as decided. |
| What is the time or deadline record? | 30 days after death; No deadline is recorded here: Texas creditor deadlines run from multiple independent triggers (permissive notice by publication, required actual notice to secured/known creditors, and a claim-presentation window) set out across Estates Code ch. 308 and ch. 355; the operative periods depend on the notice type and are not a single statewide day count. | Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number. |
| What does the cost record establish? | No single statewide amount is published here; confirm the receiving court's current schedule. | Ask the Statutory Probate Court / County Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings. |
| What does compensation use? | Estates Code § 352.002 entitles the executor/administrator to a 5% commission on all amounts actually received or paid out in cash in the administration, but the aggregate commission may not exceed 5% of the gross fair market value of the estate. Cash on hand or in accounts at death, life-insurance proceeds, and cash paid to heirs/legatees are excluded from the commission base. Section 352.003 permits alternative reasonable compensation for unusual efforts. The relevant base is money received and paid out during administration. | Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate. |
Arithmetic illustration
The recorded Texas ceiling is $75,000, and it is tested against probate property within the rule's stated scope, on a basis this site records as gross value with statutory exemptions not classified by this worksheet. Counted that way, $56,300 sits below the Texas figure and $93,800 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what Texas counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.
| Illustrative counted amount | Comparison to the Texas ceiling | What it does not decide |
|---|---|---|
| $56,300 | Below $75,000 | Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties |
| $93,800 | Above $75,000 | Whether another statutory route or court process applies |
Next evidence to collect
Official material
Texas does not publish a single statewide set of fill-in probate forms; many counties require an attorney to open an administration and publish their own local forms and fee schedules.
Source trail
This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.
The statutes on this page state the rule. These are the documents the court itself publishes. Every link is probed before release, and any link that stops resolving fails the build rather than staying on the page.
Official self-help portal; Texas does not publish statewide fill-in probate forms.
Official state law library guide to probate procedure and small estate affidavits.
Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.
Reviewed source note: The distributees of the estate of a decedent who dies intestate are entitled to the decedent's estate without waiting for the appointment of a personal representative of the estate to the extent the estate assets, excluding homestead and exempt property, exceed the known liabilities of the estate, excluding any liabilities secured by homestead and exempt property, if: (1) 30 days have elapsed since the date of the decedent's death; (2) no petition for the appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted; (3) the value of the estate assets on the date of the affidavit described by Subdivision (4), excluding homestead and exempt property, does not exceed $75,000;
What this means: Fetched from tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources, the Texas Legislature's own statutes content host that backs statutes.capitol.texas.gov (which now serves a client-rendered app shell with no server-side statute text).
Reviewed source note: is entitled to receive a five percent commission on all amounts that the executor or administrator actually receives or pays out in cash in the administration of the estate.
What this means: Section 352.002(b) caps the commission in the aggregate at 5% of the gross fair market value of the estate and excludes cash on hand/in accounts at death, life-insurance proceeds, and cash paid to heirs/legatees. Section 352.003 allows alternate reasonable compensation for unusual efforts.
Reviewed source note: (2) PROBATE COURT ACTIONS (A) Services in Pending Probate Action (Sec. 118.056 ): (i) Filing an inventory and appraisement as provided by Section 118.056 (d) . . . $25.00;
What this means: This statewide schedule fixes only specific per-service probate fees (e.g., $25 to file an inventory, $10 for a claim against the estate). It does NOT set a single statewide fee to open a probate: the opening filing fee is a consolidated charge set by each county under Government Code / commissioners-court authority, so the opening amount is county-variable.