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

The probate court

Judge Kimberly Sullivan presides. The court's local rules, signed December 20, 2022, say it hears every application in a probate or guardianship case and the matters connected to those estates. It also hears lawsuits by or against an executor or administrator, and cases about trusts, alongside the district courts.

Estate papers are filed with the Galveston County Clerk. The court's guide to will prove-ups says the original will goes to the clerk's office, and its small estate requirements are written as a letter to the County Clerk.

Who needs a lawyer

The court's policy on pro se applicants (people without a lawyer), adopted in Administrative Order 2011-2, says anyone applying for letters testamentary, letters of administration, a determination of heirship, or a guardianship must be represented by a licensed attorney. You can serve as executor or administrator without being a lawyer, but a lawyer must represent you, because an executor acts for the beneficiaries and creditors as well as themselves.

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

• An application to 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.
• A small estate affidavit.

Filing, and the 72-hour rule

The court reviews the papers for a will prove-up or heirship before the hearing, on both its uncontested and regular dockets. Its guide sets out the order:

• E-file the application. Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(1) generally doesn't require self-represented filers to e-file.
• Within three business days after e-filing an application to probate a will, physically file the original will in the clerk's office.
• Before setting an heirship or administration hearing, make sure every heir who didn't apply has been served or has signed a waiver, and file the affidavit or certificate Estates Code Section 202.057 requires.
• For an independent administration without bond, get every heir's consent, signed after the case was filed. For a dependent administration, have the asset values ready so the court can set a bond.
• As soon as the hearing is set, e-file all the proposed hearing documents.

Hearings

Under Local Rule 2.3(g), routine uncontested matters such as letters testamentary, muniments of title, and letters of administration go on the uncontested docket, which you set by calling the court. Other hearings are set on written request.

Phone and Zoom hearings are the exception. Local Rule 2.10 lets a party ask in writing, with a reason, for a short uncontested hearing without evidence to be held by phone or Zoom. The judge can still require you to appear in person.

Two kinds of will cases have their own docket. Administrative Order 2022-10 says a hearing to probate the will of someone who died more than four years ago, or to probate a copy of a will, is heard only on the Thursday docket and set only on written request.

Muniments and Medicaid

The court can't probate a will as a muniment of title if the estate owes debts other than real-estate liens. Its guidance on muniments points out that a Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP) claim counts as one of those debts, and it must be paid before the court will sign the order.

So the proof of death and other facts for a muniment must say either that the person did not apply for and receive Medicaid benefits on or after March 1, 2005, or that they did but the estate faces no Medicaid claim. In the second case, you also file the state's MERP certification.

Small estate affidavits in Galveston County

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. The court posts its own affidavit form, and a 2021 letter from the judge to the County Clerk lists what the court looks for:

• The person must have lived in Galveston County.
• Wait at least 30 days after the death.
• File a copy of the death certificate and a completed MERP form.
• Give every asset a dollar amount, and leave nothing on the form blank.
• Debts not secured by liens or mortgages can't be more than the assets.
• If the person was a ward in a pending guardianship, only the guardianship's attorney may file the affidavit.

The statewide paths, briefly

Galveston's probate court applies 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 the court's policy says heirs may 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. The court requires the Medicaid statement in the proof of death.

With no will and an estate that needs a court-appointed administrator, the path is an application for letters of administration, which the court's policy says needs a lawyer.

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 Galveston, copy a small estate affidavit's facts onto the court's posted form, and bring drafts for letters or an heirship case to the lawyer who will file them. You handle filing.