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Texas timeline

Texas probate timeline: the 30-day wait and creditor deadlines

The simplified route starts 30 days after death.

That clock is one condition among several, and it is not the whole estate timeline. The deadlines that carry the most risk are creditor deadlines, and in Texas they are not verified to this site’s standard, so none is published below.

Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.

The one date this page can source

The small estate affidavit (estates code ch. 205) route requires 30 days to elapse from the date of death. This is a precondition: the affidavit or petition cannot be presented before it runs, regardless of how straightforward the estate is.

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;Tex. Est. Code § 205.001 — Texas Legislature (statutes content host); eff. September 1, 2017..

Creditor deadlines

This site publishes no creditor-notice or claim-bar deadline for Texas.

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.

These are the deadlines with the largest consequences on this page. Publishing a notice starts a period after which most claims are barred; missing a required notice can extend an estate’s exposure and, in some circumstances, the personal exposure of the person administering it. A number that is wrong by a few days is materially worse than no number at all, which is why none is given.

Read this: Tex. Est. Code chs. 308 & 355. The probate clerk in the county of filing can also state the local practice, which sometimes differs from the bare statutory minimum.

Until then, the safe default is the one every source agrees on: do not distribute property, and do not pay non-priority debts, before the claim position is settled.

Texas timeline decision map

What must be established before the Texas clock matters

The Texas waiting period is only one condition. Use this map to separate the route clock from creditor deadlines, asset scope, court costs, and the documents needed to move from screening to filing.

QuestionRecorded Texas answerCarry 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?$75,000Establish 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.

Clock ledger

Do not compress the Texas deadlines into one date

No Texas creditor deadline is published 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. Read Tex. Est. Code chs. 308 & 355 and ask the Statutory Probate Court / County Court which notice and claim rules apply.

Case-file context

Keep the Texas answer with its neighboring conditions

A route answer is easier to use when the facts that can change it stay in the same record. These are the reviewed Texas descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.

Route context

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.

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.

Cost context

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.

No single statewide amount is published here; confirm the receiving court's current schedule.

Compensation context

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.

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.

Court-material note: 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.

Arithmetic illustration

See the Texas amount screen without mistaking it for a result

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 amountComparison to the Texas ceilingWhat it does not decide
$56,300Below $75,000Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$93,800Above $75,000Whether another statutory route or court process applies

Next evidence to collect

Calendar the verified gate, preserve the unresolved questions, and confirm the county filing path before distributing property.

  1. Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
  2. Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
  3. Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
  4. Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.

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

Records used by this Texas map

The general sequence

The order in which an estate is actually worked — secure property, confirm title and beneficiary designations, identify the court route, notify and account, then close — is the same everywhere and carries no citation, so it is set out once rather than repeated on each state’s page. Read it inthe executor’s first week, and seehow long probate takes for how the phases stretch in practice.

What is jurisdiction-specific is above: the Texas periods, the event each one runs from, and the source each was read in.

Use this as a starting point.

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.

Continue in Texas