Welcome to the Houston Lawyer Referral Service Legal Video Series. Your trusted source for clear, practical legal information designed to help families navigate important decisions with confidence. 

In this video, we’ll explore what happens in Texas when someone passes away with a valid will and how the probate process works from start to finish with your Harris County public probate administrator, Brandon Koffield.

Brandon, tell us a little bit about what you do. 

Yeah. So, this is a new department in Harris County and the idea is that this is going to hopefully consolidate a lot of information for people so that we can help more people understand the probate process from start to finish – how to clear title, get title in the right person’s name, and ultimately provide resources to know how to pass that title in the most pain free and painless way possible because so many people have bad experiences with probate. And so we’re trying to make that more accessible so that more people don’t lose their family homes.

That is fantastic. We really appreciate you being here today and informing the public. Shall we begin? 

Sure. 

So, several questions for you. What happens when someone dies with the valid will in Texas? 

Yeah. So, anytime there is a will, it makes life a lot easier for a lot of reasons because ultimately we’re going to know who’s supposed to be in charge and who’s supposed to get what. So when a person passes with a will, you ultimately have to probate that will. And a lot of times people ask like, “All right, well, I have a will, so why do I have to go to probate court?” The most important thing is we don’t know if that was your last will or maybe you made another will or maybe a different will. And so if people just assume the paper they have is the last one, then you’d have multiple people possibly making a claim to a car or a house or something, right? And so you have to go to the court. The court makes that determination that this is the last and final will. Then they will ultimately give you something called letters testamentary and that’s what gives you the authority to sign on behalf of the decedent and be able to effectively stand in their shoes for whatever things that they could do you’d be able to do.

So who handles the estate? 

So if there is a will, hopefully there’s an executor named in that will and that person will be in charge of all the business for that estate. So the estate, to be a little bit more specific, is whatever is left in that person’s name at the time of passing. So if there’s an asset, like a bank account that has a beneficiary designation, they’ve contracted with that bank to give that asset to somebody else. So that’s not a part of their estate. So that person won’t have to worry about that. Or if they have a transfer on death deed on a property, they don’t have to worry about that part of it. It’s only what’s in the estate at the time the person passes.

Well, that’s wonderful news. Um, how long does it take to probate a will? 

Yeah, there’s a couple different factors with that. So I’m going to say there’s always the human factor. So, we’ll just put a plus or minus on all this um amount of time, but the ideally once the original will is probated, or application first has to be filed with the probate courts, and within 3 days by statute, you’re supposed to hand over the original will that you have and, or a copy if that’s the only thing that you have. And from that point, there’s a notice period. So, it’s about 14 days in total. It’s 10 days plus a Monday, which is a very weird thing, but about 14 days total. And from that time period, that is the public notice to say, “Hey world, I’m saying that this is the last will that they have. If anybody has another will out there, if you think this one is fraud, here is your time period to stand up and take your claim.” And from that period on, then you can request that hearing and move forward. 

The probably the biggest difference is just if there’s something called a self-proving affidavit that’s connected to the will. A lot of wills today usually have those, and it’s just the same two witnesses for a regular type written will. If they kind of add a little bit more testimony saying like this person was over the age of 14 of sound mind, all the things that they would have to testify to in court, they can do on paper in front of that notary. So it kind of fast tracks it. So if you have a self-proven affidavit, ideally I think the courts would love to get you to and through within like two to three months. Without that self-proving affidavit, it’s probably closer to three or four months.

Did you have to have an attorney to probate a will in Harris County? 

Yes. So, under Texas law, if you are going to probate a will, or even if a person passes without a will and you’re doing an estate administration, you have to have an attorney.

And how is debt handled on that when someone passes away? 

Yeah, the most important thing to realize when you’re dealing with debt, is that debt is that person’s debt, and/or that person’s estate. So, it’s unfortunate sometimes I’ll see people that are paying out of their own money to try to pay off a credit card bill for a deceased person. That debt stays with that person. Now, that said, if the estate has assets and those creditors file a claim that is like a legitimate claim that’s accepted, then the estate would pay those assets. But the individual, I guess the survivors, they’re not responsible for paying the debts of a person that’s deceased.

That’s very good news for a lot of people, I’m sure. What are what are the possible costs involved when there is a will? 

Yeah, so the state legislature a few sessions ago set a pretty much standard filing fee for just about anything in the probate courts to open up a new case. And so to open up a new case, there’s a $360 filing fee. Depending on how many heirs there are, who’s present, whether or not they sign a waiver, you’re going to have to give notice to those people. So that’s at least going to be another $90 just to get it like in the newspaper when there is a will to say, “Hello world, I’m saying this is that will.” So, you’re already looking at about $450 and that’s just filing fees. That’s not including the cost for legal services. 

So, if you’re using a resource like Houston Referral Service, that might be different than maybe pro bono or maybe a private attorney. So, that part is kind of hard to figure out, but I can tell you for sure that filing fees alone, you should expect at least close to $500.

And then if you do need an attorney, the Houston Lawyer Referral Service does offer referrals to attorneys and they do charge legal fees, but they are usually much more reasonable than if you just call someone that you Google and find.

Yeah, absolutely. Especially for something like this, I think everyone knows someone that has passed, right? For the most part, it’s for this to be a relatively small practice area. It’s also kind of like the biggest. It’s almost unfortunately like, you know you need a dentist, you need lawn care, because people just have teeth, people you know when grass is going to grow, people are going to pass. And so being able to find attorneys that know what they’re doing and are competent, it makes sense to be able to go to a resource where you can get a referral instead of just hoping you know the person down the street that just passed the bar knows what they’re doing.

Exactly. And our attorneys they’re insured and a lot of them do probate on a flat fee. So when you consult with them, you can, you know, speak to them about your issue and they can let you know um what their fee is. So we are definitely a trusted source not just for probate matters but for every kind of legal matter as you know. Brandon, what happens after the debts are paid? Like is there anything else that they need to be concerned about? Like maybe the estate pays the debts, but there’s also belongings in the house.

Yeah. So, there’s certain things that the court can and cannot do. If you think about it on a big picture, right? Let’s say there’s a letterman jacket, grandpa’s letterman jacket, that is invaluable to someone, right? Sentimental value things. Yes. But the court can’t set a number on that to be able to say because if you think about it, maybe a garage sale is a better way to think about it. On the right day and time, that letterman jacket might be worth a million dollars, right? Or it doesn’t get sold that day and it goes through the price reduction and it goes for a quarter to somebody, right? And so, personal effects are the things that uh courts generally leave to the family to figure out because you can imagine the minutiae of you know “my sister wouldn’t give me mom’s wedding dress but I told her she can’t have this” that gets a little bit too in-depth but things that have a set value. So typically let’s say artwork or like a vehicle – jewelry maybe. Jewelry, anything that can have a set appraisal value, then the court can make sure to hold whoever’s in charge accountable if they don’t pass that asset. But if it’s, you know, that a lot of nice suits, I mean, it’s hard to get a value for that. So, those are the type of things that unfortunately, as much as people like to hope that the courts can resolve all their issues, the court can’t get that far into the weeds and try to figure out family. 

And I imagine hiring an attorney and trying to fight over that letterman jacket or fight over dad’s suit collection would be extremely expensive and not really at the end benefit them at all.

Usually what I’ve seen happen, at least when I was in private practice, is if it’s just that contentious. A lot of times the families will go to mediation and they’ll try to figure out like look you can have everything in the house after I go through or I’ve even seen they almost do it like a snake draft, right let’s say there’s five siblings and you whoever draws the right straw you get the first pick this person one two three four five this person gets six and come back around and that’s worked really well for splitting up jewelry or whatever it is and so there’s creative ways to do it and reach an agreement sometimes it is good to have an attorney just to be that buffer. So, attorney to attorney talking because they don’t have a vested interest as opposed to, you know, siblings that are already at odds with each other.

And I do know that a lot of attorneys on our service um do are certified mediators as well. So, they can help them through that process. And, we talked about how long the process typically takes and you know, if you prepare properly, two to three months maybe. If you don’t maybe twice that time?

Yeah. Yeah, if the will is so the biggest issue is I guess there’s a couple different touch points that could make it a little longer. So some of it is just court specific, right? So we have five different probate courts here in Harris County. We realistically probably need more just because there’s just so many people. So depending where they’re at, what’s going on, if it’s the holidays, you know, the courts close a little bit more frequently, so they might not have as much availability. So that’s kind of one of the biggest things. And then the other piece really comes down, like I said, that self-proving affidavit or any other documentation. It makes it clean and clear and more legible. But realistically, the biggest thing is if it gets contested. I mean, if someone says, you know, the will’s filled out correctly and everything is lovely, but somebody’s like, wait a minute, mom didn’t have capacity at that time. You know, she had deep stages in Alzheimer’s. Now we got a whole different protracted. It’s going to be contested. So that probate can go a lot longer. But if it’s a clean, clear will, no contest, that’s when you’re looking at closely, hopefully between that two and four months to be through the whole process.

So, it sounds like everyone needs to to get an attorney, have a will drafted, make sure it is, meeting all the criteria of who gets what, and who’s the executive. And, and it’s my understanding, please correct me if I’m wrong, that you cannot be an executive if you have a felony on your record. Is that true? 

So, there’s been some changes in the law recently. Specifically, let’s say if you’re the only child and the only beneficiary, right? It doesn’t really make sense to try to find somebody else to be able to fill in those spots. But generally speaking, the court is going to look at who’s going to be appointed as executive. But some of those things can also be up to the judge’s discretion just because they’re trying to work with people. It’s just one of the beautiful things about probate is it’s flexible, but it’s also rigid at the same time. People find themselves in interesting circumstances, but the law and we’re still just people at the court and working in the county and so trying to make it work for whatever circumstance people find themselves in.

Well, this has been so helpful, Brandon, and I know we’re doing a series on probate. So, we are going to be doing next when someone dies without a will. So, make sure that if you’re watching this series that you, catch that video as well.

Absolutely.