First Week After a Death in Texas: Executor Checklist
The first week after a death pulls you in ten directions. Texas probate does not make you choose a court path on day one. The early work is quieter: secure the property, find the records, note who needs notice, and keep the estate from getting harder to manage.
In the first week, gather enough proof to choose the right probate path later.
Protect the home, mail, and property
Start with the things someone could lose, move, or damage. Lock the home, pull spare keys out of circulation, check on pets, clear out food that will spoil, and keep the utilities on long enough to protect the property. If relatives or neighbors already have access, write down who holds keys and what they took.
Cars, devices, jewelry, prescriptions, firearms, cash, and family papers each deserve a short note with the date and location. Photograph them before you move them. That note is your record if a creditor, heir, insurer, or court later asks what happened.
- Forward or hold mail so bills and notices do not disappear.
- Photograph rooms, vehicles, valuables, and documents before sorting them.
- Keep a receipt folder for locks, storage, funeral costs, repairs, and property expenses.
- Hold off on giving away property until you know the estate path and the debt picture.
Order death certificates and find the original will
Banks, insurers, title companies, and courts ask for a certified death certificate. Order more than one. The right number depends on the asset mix, though executors often need several certified copies in the first month.
The original will carries more weight than a scan. Look in a home safe, filing cabinet, safe deposit box, attorney file, desk drawer, or estate planning binder. If you find a codicil, trust, transfer-on-death deed, beneficiary form, or funeral contract, keep it with the will. Those documents can move assets outside probate or change who has authority.
Make one working list
Use one list for assets, debts, people, and county facts. Include real estate, bank accounts, retirement accounts, life insurance, vehicles, business interests, credit cards, medical bills, funeral bills, tax notices, and the names of heirs or beneficiaries.
You will revise the list as statements arrive, and that is fine. A rough list with source notes serves you better than a tidy one built from memory. Write down account names, last four digits, addresses, contact names, and file locations so you can find them again.
A first inventory will change as statements come in. Use it to guide the next phone call.
Check debts before distributing property
A family may want to divide furniture, jewelry, tools, or vehicles as soon as the funeral ends. Slow that down. Texas probate decisions turn on both assets and debts. Funeral bills, mortgage payments, medical bills, taxes, and secured loans can all change the right path.
If someone takes property before you understand the debts, you may have to ask for it back. That conversation gets harder once the item leaves the house. Keep everything in view until you know who can act and what the estate owes.
Run a Texas path check
The right Texas probate path depends on the will, the asset mix, the debts, the county, and whether the family agrees. A will can point toward muniment of title, Letters Testamentary, independent administration, or dependent administration. No will can point toward a small estate affidavit, affidavit of heirship, or administration.
LegacyWyse starts with those facts, then builds a checklist and document packet for supported Texas counties. If the estate involves conflict, unusual assets, unclear heirs, or creditor pressure, use the checklist to organize the facts before you call a Texas probate attorney.