Key points
- Without a will, Texas intestacy law decides who inherits, which may not match your wishes, especially in blended families.
- A transfer-on-death deed (Estates Code ch. 114) can pass real estate outside probate while you keep full control during life.
- Texas independent administration lets executors settle estates with limited court supervision.
- Texas has no state estate or inheritance tax. Federal estate tax affects only estates above a high exemption amount.
Estate planning services
| Document | What it does |
|---|---|
| Will | Directs who receives your property, names your executor, and nominates guardians for minor children. |
| Revocable living trust | Holds assets during life and transfers them at death without probate, with added privacy and flexibility. |
| Special needs and other trusts | Provide for a beneficiary with a disability, or protect assets for children and grandchildren. |
| Statutory durable power of attorney | Appoints someone to handle your finances if you can’t. |
| Medical power of attorney and directive to physicians | Name a health care decision-maker and record your end-of-life wishes. |
| Transfer-on-death or enhanced life estate deed | Passes real estate at death without probate. |
| Appointment of guardian | Designates who should serve if you or a child needs a guardian. |
Why estate planning matters in Houston
- It provides for your loved ones and directs exactly who gets what;
- It streamlines probate, reducing time, cost and conflict;
- It names guardians for children and decision-makers for your finances and health;
- It supports beneficiaries with special needs and charitable goals; and
- It keeps family real estate from ending up in co-ownership deadlocks and partition suits.
Own real estate or a business?
Those assets need the most planning. We’ll coordinate deeds, entities and your estate plan so they work together. Book a discovery call.
Probate in Texas
When someone dies, probate is often needed to transfer property, especially real estate, into the heirs’ names. Texas offers several paths:
- Independent administration: the executor settles the estate with limited court involvement. This is the most common path when there’s a will.
- Muniment of title: the will is admitted as a title document without an administration, when there are no unpaid debts other than those secured by real estate.
- Small estate affidavit: for qualifying intestate estates under the statutory value limit, excluding the homestead and exempt property.
- Determination of heirship: establishes legal heirs when there’s no will, often needed to clear title to real estate.
Harris County has dedicated probate courts. We guide executors through filing, notices to creditors, inventories, paying debts and distributing assets, and help heirs resolve title issues so property can be sold or refinanced.
When estates turn into disputes
We also represent families in disputes over estates and estate property, including challenges to deeds signed shortly before death, claims of undue influence, and co-owner conflicts over inherited homes. See our case results on the successful defense of a large estate against claims of a disinherited daughter, and a partition action that resolved a dispute between sisters over an inherited home. Related: deed disputes.