Texas lets an estate representative act without returning to court for permission. Most states do not. That mechanism is independent administration, and it is the first thing a probate attorney San Antonio families hire looks for in the will.
But the fork runs deeper than paperwork. The other road is dependent administration, where the court answers first and the representative acts second. Both roads reach the same place. They do not, however, cost the same to travel.
Road one: independent administration, by will or by agreement
Texas independent administration comes from one of three places. The cleanest runs through the will. Section 401.001(a) lets any person capable of making a will provide that “no other action shall be had in the probate court in relation to the settlement of the person’s estate than the probating and recording of the will and the return of any required inventory, appraisement, and list of claims.” A testator may also do the reverse under subsection (b) and forbid it outright.
Silence in the will is not fatal. When a will names an executor but says nothing about independent administration, § 401.002(a) lets all of the distributees agree on it and designate that executor. The court shall grant the request unless it finds the arrangement would not serve the estate’s best interest. Where no named executor can serve, subsection (b) does the same for an independent administrator.
Section 401.003 extends the agreement route to intestate estates, with a condition summaries routinely drop. Under subsection (b), the court may not appoint an independent administrator in an intestate case until a Chapter 202 heirship proceeding has found the applicants to be all of the heirs. “Everyone agrees” is not the whole step. That is why a probate attorney San Antonio families consult asks early who the distributees are.
The sentence a probate attorney San Antonio quotes most
Section 402.001 is the payoff. Two things have to happen before it applies. The court enters the appointment order, and the inventory, appraisement, and list of claims gets filed and approved — or an affidavit in lieu is filed. After that, as long as an independent executor represents the estate, “further action of any nature may not be had in the probate court except where this title specifically and explicitly provides for some action in the court.”
Section 402.002 states the consequence plainly. Any act a court-supervised representative could take with or without an order, an independent executor may take without one. The text of Chapter 402 is short by design.
Closing the road, or declining to
Closing an independent administration is Chapter 405, not Chapter 404. Chapter 404 instead handles accounting, bond on demand, removal, and successors.
Chapter 405 offers three exits. Judicial discharge under § 405.003 is the formal one, and it is heavier than the name suggests. The executor files a declaratory judgment action under Chapter 37 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code. He must personally serve each distributee. He must also distribute the remaining assets first, keeping only a reasonable reserve.
The lighter exits sit in § 405.004. An executor may file a closing report (§ 405.005) or a notice of closing estate (§ 405.006), each verified by affidavit. Under § 405.007, the administration closes 30 days later unless an interested person objects.
The third exit is to take none of them. Section 405.012 says an independent executor “is not required to close the independent administration of an estate” under any of those sections.
Road two: dependent administration, where the court answers first
The second road reverses the default, and a probate attorney San Antonio prices it accordingly. Under § 351.051, a representative must apply in writing and get a court order before most of what an estate needs. The list is long. It covers purchasing or exchanging property, compounding doubtful debts, and compromising a disputed claim. It also reaches paying a secured claim with the collateral, and abandoning burdensome property.
A short list escapes that. Under § 351.052, the representative needs no order to release a lien at maturity or vote stock by proxy. The same goes for paying calls and assessments, insuring the estate, and paying taxes, court costs, and bond premiums.
Accounting is where the cost accumulates. Section 359.001 requires a sworn exhibit by the 60th day after the first anniversary of qualification. It lists every claim presented, whether allowed, paid, rejected, or in litigation. It also reports receipts, disbursements, and the condition of the property. Section 359.002 repeats that every year until the estate closes.
Bond generally applies as well. Section 305.101(a) requires it before letters issue. Two exceptions matter. Letters testamentary issue without bond when the will directs it and the court finds the person qualified. A corporate fiduciary posts none.
The inventory a probate attorney San Antonio files in ninety days
Section 309.051(a) runs its clock from qualification, not from death. Before the 91st day after the representative qualifies, he must file a verified, full, and detailed inventory. It covers Texas real property and personal property wherever located. It also states whether the decedent was married, and which portion is separate and which community. Subsection (b) adds an appraisement at fair market value on the date of death.
Section 309.056 supplies the alternative, and it is narrower than people assume. Only an independent executor may file the affidavit in lieu. It works only when no unpaid debts exist as the inventory comes due, other than secured debts, taxes, and administration expenses. The affidavit says those debts are paid and the beneficiaries got a verified inventory, and it goes in inside the same 90-day window.
Muniment of title, a mechanism a probate attorney San Antonio can use
Some estates need no administration at all. Section 257.001 lets a court admit a will as a muniment of title on two conditions. The court must be satisfied the will should be admitted. And the estate must owe no unpaid debt except one secured by a lien on real estate, or administration must be unnecessary for another reason.
What the order accomplishes is specific. Under § 257.102, it gives sufficient legal authority to anyone holding estate property, owing the estate money, or acting as registrar or transfer agent. They may transfer the asset without an administration. A person taking under the will then deals with that property as if record title stood in his name.
What it does not end is the matter itself. Section 257.103 requires a sworn affidavit within 180 days, stating which terms of the will have and have not been fulfilled. The court may waive or extend it. And § 257.151 preserves a later administration if a Chapter 301 application arrives within four years of death.
The small estate affidavit, and what it cannot transfer
Chapter 205 is the other way around administration, and it is tightly bounded. Section 205.001 applies only to a decedent who dies intestate. Thirty days must have elapsed since the death. No petition for a personal representative may be pending or granted. And the estate assets on the affidavit date, excluding homestead and exempt property, may not exceed $75,000.
Two disinterested witnesses and each distributee with legal capacity swear to the affidavit (§ 205.002). It lists known assets and liabilities, every distributee, and the family-history facts showing the right to inherit.
Then the limit. Section 205.008(b) says the chapter does not transfer title to real property, except as § 205.006 provides. That section reaches only the homestead, and only where the homestead is the estate’s sole real property. Recording the affidavit in the county deed records makes even that work.
Bexar County gives a probate attorney San Antonio three probate courts
Government Code § 25.0171(c) provides that Bexar County has three statutory probate courts: No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3. The third is recent. The Legislature added it by Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 861 (H.B. 3474), effective September 1, 2023, so sources written before late 2023 say two.
The ratio is the real point. The Texas Office of Court Administration counted 25 statutory probate courts across 12 counties as of September 2025. Texas has 254 counties. In the other 242, probate shares a docket with everything else a county court hears. Government Code Chapter 25 gives Bexar judges who hear probate and guardianship matters full time.
The San Antonio probate process also starts at a different counter than newcomers expect. Filings run through the County Clerk, not the District Clerk. The Bexar County Clerk’s Probate Department sits at 100 Dolorosa, Suite 104, San Antonio, Texas 78205; the number is 210-335-2241.
The bottom line
Independent administration is the Texas advantage, but it is neither automatic nor free of structure. It comes from the will’s own language, or from unanimous distributee agreement. In an intestate estate, it comes only after a Chapter 202 heirship judgment. So a probate attorney San Antonio families consult is measuring two things at once. Can the estate reach road one? And can it skip administration altogether? The gap between the roads is not procedural trivia. It is the difference between filing an inventory once and filing a sworn account every year.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Under Section 401.002(a), when a will names an executor but says nothing about independent administration, all of the distributees may agree on it and designate that executor, and the court shall grant the request unless it finds the arrangement would not serve the estate’s best interest.
Section 401.003(b) bars the court from appointing one until a Chapter 202 heirship proceeding has found the applicants to be all of the heirs. Agreement among the people who show up is not the whole step.
Before the 91st day after the representative qualifies, under Section 309.051(a), which runs its clock from qualification rather than from the death. Only an independent executor may file the affidavit in lieu, and only where no unpaid debts exist as the inventory comes due other than secured debts, taxes and administration expenses.
Only in one situation. Section 205.008(b) says Chapter 205 does not transfer title to real property except as Section 205.006 provides, and that section reaches the homestead alone, and only where the homestead is the estate’s sole real property, with the affidavit recorded in the county deed records.
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This article describes how Texas estate administration works and is general information, not legal advice. Which form of administration an estate qualifies for depends on the will, the debts and the agreement of the people who inherit, and those questions are decided case by case.