Probate in Fort Bend County, Texas: Where to File and What to Expect

Which court hears the case

Under Estates Code Section 32.002(b), a county without a statutory probate court but with a county court at law that handles probate gives that court and the county court shared original jurisdiction over probate. In Fort Bend, the county courts at law are the ones that hear estates.

You don't choose among the six. Fort Bend's Local Rule 7 says probate filings go to the Probate Department of the County Clerk's office, which assigns a case number and a court. Once an estate is docketed in a court, everything about it stays there unless the judge signs a transfer order. The rule also tells attorneys to check the clerk's estate index before filing, and if the estate already has a number, every later filing goes under it.

Once the clerk assigns the case, the cause number tells you which court has it and which probate auditor to call.

Who can file without a lawyer

This is the Fort Bend rule that surprises families most. The County Courts at Law's written Policy Regarding Pro Se Applicants (revised October 1, 2014) says anyone applying for letters testamentary, letters of administration, a determination of heirship, or a guardianship must be represented by a licensed attorney. The clerk may accept the papers, but the court won't act on them until an attorney is on the case.

The policy's reason is that an executor doesn't act only for themselves. They also act for the beneficiaries and creditors, and under Texas law only a lawyer can represent other people. You can still serve as executor or administrator without being a lawyer. You just need one to represent you.

The policy names two things you can do on your own:

• Probate a will as a muniment of title when you are the only beneficiary and the estate has no debts except those secured by liens on real estate.
• File a small estate affidavit together with all the other heirs, when the estate qualifies.

Filing and e-filing

eFileTexas, the state's court filing system, says e-filing is mandatory for attorneys in probate cases. Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(1) generally doesn't require self-represented filers to e-file, though eFileTexas encourages them to. Local rules can add requirements, so ask the clerk's probate department how it wants your papers.

The courts' Probate Forms and Information page lists what must be on file before any hearing can be set:

• A Civil Case Information Sheet, in every probate or guardianship case.
• For an estate with a will, the original will, filed with the County Clerk. If the original can't be produced, the court page asks for the original copy.
• A death certificate.

How hearings are set

Each county court at law has its own probate auditor, and you set an estate hearing by contacting the auditor for the court that has the case. The courts' page warns that individual courts may have extra requirements, posted under each court's Staff tab, so read that court's page before you call.

County Court at Law No. 3 publishes the most detail. It hears what it calls non-record matters, such as simple letters testamentary and muniments, on Wednesdays, and record matters, such as administrations and heirships, on Thursdays. Both dockets run on Zoom at 11:00 a.m. The court says all applicants must appear, and it doesn't accept testimony by written deposition unless it makes an exception. The other five courts post their own probate pages, and their practices may differ.

For a muniment of title, Fort Bend's 2014 policy on Medicaid matters too. If the person applied for and received Medicaid on or after March 1, 2005, the state's Medicaid Estate Recovery Program may have a claim, which counts as an estate debt. The policy says the will can't be probated as a muniment until that debt is paid. When it doesn't apply, the courts ask that the application, the proposed order, and the proof of death include this sentence: "The Decedent did not apply for and receive Medicaid benefits on or after March 1, 2005."

Small estate affidavits in Fort Bend

A small estate affidavit lets the heirs of someone who died without a will collect property worth $75,000 or less, not counting the homestead and exempt property, without opening an administration. Texas Estates Code Chapter 205 sets the rules. Fort Bend's courts add their own requirements in a published checklist (updated April 2021) and on County Court at Law No. 3's probate page:

• Use the court's own small estate affidavit form. An administrative order requires it.
• File a death certificate and a Civil Case Information Sheet with the affidavit.
• Wait at least 30 days after the death to file.
• Give every asset a value. The court can't approve an affidavit that lists an asset of unknown value.
• Have every heir with legal capacity sign before a notary, along with two disinterested witnesses who inherit nothing.
• If an heir is a minor, the court won't approve the affidavit unless the minor's share can go into the court's registry until they turn 18.

The statewide paths, briefly

Fort Bend's courts apply the same Texas Estates Code as every other county. Which path fits depends mostly on whether there was a will and what the estate owes.

With no will and a small estate, heirs can use the small estate affidavit, which Fort Bend lets them file without a lawyer.

With a will and no unpaid debts except real-estate liens, a muniment of title application can transfer property without appointing an executor. In Fort Bend, the only beneficiary may file it alone.

With no will and an estate that needs a court-appointed administrator, the path is an application for letters of administration, which Fort Bend requires a lawyer to file.

When the family mainly needs to show who inherited real estate, an affidavit of heirship is recorded in the county deed records rather than filed with a court.

Our Texas probate overview walks through how to choose among them.

Common questions

How Legacywyse can help

Legacywyse asks about the family, the will, and the assets, then drafts the Texas forms your path calls for. In Fort Bend, that means two things. Copy a small estate affidavit's facts onto the court's required form, and bring drafts for letters or an heirship case to the lawyer who will file them. You handle filing.