Annotate Legal Texas Probate Forms For Free

To begin the process, an Application for Probate will need to be filed in a Texas Probate Court. Generally, you have four years from the date of death to the filing of an application for probate.

Texas has default inheritance rules in place for such an occurrence. See Texas Estates Code Chapter 201. Therefore, if there is no will, or the decedent's will is found to be invalid, the decedent's heirs can still be determined and the decedent's estate can still be probated.

Independent administration: This is the most common type of probate administration in Texas. Compared to dependent administration, this process is much less expensive because the administrator does not need to go to court very often, nor does he or she usually have to post a bond.

Probate can be a long, complicated process. Between the filings, deadlines, and court hearings, people often ask, Do I need a lawyer for probate? In most cases, the answer is yes.

Some assets that can be easily transferred from a person's estate to family members and loved ones without the probate process include: Community property that entails the right of survivorship. Joint tenancy property or real estate that entails a right of survivorship. Bank accounts that are payable-on-death.

Texas Estates Code §256.054 requires that an application for the probate of a lost will must include information concerning the reason the original instrument cannot be produced and must also include (among other things) the names and addresses of the devisees included in the lost will and the names and addresses of ...

Some may wonder, How long do you have to probate a will in Texas? The answer is that you only have four years from the date of the decedent's death to file the will with a probate court. After that, you might fall into an exception, but usually the judge won't allow you to probate that will anymore.

Can you probate a will in Texas without a lawyer? Yes, but it's not always recommended ? and some Texas counties don't allow a will to be probated without a lawyer. If you plan to apply for a probate alternative (like a muniment of title or an out-of-court affidavit), you don't need to hire an estate attorney.

In Texas, you can make a living trust to avoid probate for virtually any asset you own?real estate, bank accounts, vehicles, and so on. You need to create a trust document (it's similar to a will), naming someone to take over as trustee after your death (called a successor trustee).