Bandera County, TX Probate Information

Before you file anything in Bandera, know what is in the estate and what it owes. Which Texas route fits, and whether an administration is needed at all, turns on whether there is a will, who the distributees are, what the assets are worth and whether there are unpaid debts. Those routes are set by state statute and are the same in all 254 Texas counties; they are explained on the Texas state page. The answer matters more than usual here, because Bandera County's own court policy says that an individual applying for letters testamentary, letters of administration, a determination of heirship or a guardianship must be represented by a licensed attorney, and the one pro se route the policy describes, probating a will as a muniment of title (Estates Code chapter 257), is available only where the applicant is the sole beneficiary and the estate has no debts other than those secured by liens against real estate. Whether that fits is a question about the estate's debts, so it has to be answered before anyone drafts an application.

Identify every bank and credit union account, retirement plan, brokerage holding, life insurance policy, vehicle and parcel of Bandera County or out-of-county real property, along with every debt, before you apply. How each asset is titled decides whether it passes through the estate at all: survivorship accounts, accounts with a named beneficiary and land covered by a recorded transfer on death deed pass outside the estate and never reach the county court. Sunset's asset-discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for exactly this step, so that the application filed with the Bandera County Clerk describes the estate accurately the first time.

The Bandera County Clerk's office at 500 Main Street in Bandera is the single probate filing location for the whole county. There is no branch or annex counter for estates. The county does run annexes elsewhere, the Lakehills Annex at 9155 FM 1283 and the Medina Annex at 161 E. Parker St., but those house Justice of the Peace precincts, not probate. The court serves every part of the county, including Bandera, Lakehills and Medina, the Medina Lake area and the ranch country toward Lost Maples. The County Judge's office is in the same building as the clerk at 500 Main Street, which is why a probate filing and the judge who hears it stay under one roof here.

Venue is straightforward for a Hill Country resident: you file in the county where the decedent lived, if the decedent had a domicile or fixed place of residence in Texas (Estates Code § 33.001(a)(1)). If the person lived in Bandera County, the case belongs in the Bandera County Court, even if they died in a hospital in San Antonio, Kerrville or Boerne. For a decedent with no Texas domicile or fixed residence, venue depends on where the death happened and where the estate or the nearest of kin are (§ 33.001(a)(2)).

Which court hears the case is the fact a generic page gets wrong on a small Texas county. Bandera County has no statutory probate court and no county court at law, so the Bandera County Court, the constitutional county court, has original jurisdiction of probate proceedings (Estates Code § 32.002(a)), and the elected County Judge presides. One caution about the county's own wording: the County Clerk's page says the office "Serves as clerk and custodian of records for the Commissioners Court, Constitutional County Court and Statutory County Courts." That last phrase is website boilerplate, not Bandera law. Government Code Chapter 25, which creates every statutory county court in Texas, has no Bandera provision, so there is no Bandera county court at law to choose between. The only district court seated in the county is the 198th District Court, which under Government Code § 24.377 is composed of Bandera and Kerr Counties, and its clerk is the District Clerk at 3360 State Hwy 173 N.

If a matter in the proceeding becomes contested, the case does not stay with the County Judge by default. Under Estates Code § 32.003(a), in a county with no statutory probate court and no county court at law exercising original probate jurisdiction, when a matter in a probate proceeding is contested the judge of the county court may, on the judge's own motion, or shall, on the motion of any party to the proceeding, either request the assignment of a statutory probate court judge to hear the contested matter (Government Code § 25.0022) or transfer the contested matter to the district court, which may then hear it as if originally filed there. Three details matter in practice. A party's motion for assignment of a statutory probate court judge beats a transfer: if it is filed before the county judge transfers the matter, the county judge shall grant it and may not transfer the case unless the motion is withdrawn (§ 32.003(b)). A party may file that motion before anything becomes contested, and it takes effect if the matter later does (§ 32.003(c)). And the county court keeps the rest of the case: if only the contested matter is assigned out or transferred, the county court continues to exercise jurisdiction over the management of the estate until the contested matter is finally disposed of (§ 32.003(g)), and the matter returns to the county court when it is resolved.

Bandera expects a lawyer for an administration, and it says so in writing. This is the single most important local fact on this page. The County Judge's policy on applicants without an attorney, published on the County Clerk's Links and Forms page and dated January 1, 2012, reads: "individuals applying for letters testamentary, letters of administration, determination of heirship, and guardianships of the person or estate must be represented by a licensed attorney", because under Texas law only a licensed attorney may represent the interests of third parties, including probate estates, citing Steele v. McDonald, 202 S.W.3d 926 (Tex. App. Waco 2006). The policy adds that "One need not be a lawyer to serve as an executor, administrator, or guardian. However, the executor, administrator, or guardian must be represented by counsel." The carve-out is narrow: "a pro se applicant may probate a will as a muniment of title when he or she is the sole beneficiary under the will, and there are no debts against the estate other than those secured by liens against real estate", and the policy says even that is a legal decision. Read it before you assume you can file alone.

A muniment of title application here has an extra sentence in it. The County Judge's memo on muniments of title and Medicaid benefits asks that the proof of death and other facts carry the line "The Decedent did not apply for and receive Medicaid benefits on or after March 1, 2005", and warns that where the decedent applied for Medicaid after that date and received benefits, the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program's claim has to be investigated and the will "cannot be probated as a Muniment of Title until that debt is paid". That is a real filing requirement in Bandera and it is easy to miss, because nothing in the Estates Code puts that sentence in the form (chapter 257 sets the conditions themselves).

A lost will draws a standing notice order. If the original will or codicil cannot be produced, the county's amended standing order, filed January 28, 2015, requires the clerk to attach a specific notice of the right to object to each citation issued in the case, and requires any affidavit waiving citation to include the same notice or its substance. The order's own exhibits are the notice and a sample waiver affidavit. The notice tells interested parties something applicants often do not expect: when an original will cannot be produced the law presumes the testator revoked it, and the court will not grant the application unless the applicant offers sufficient evidence to rebut that presumption.

Two clerks, two buildings, and only one of them opens estates. The Bandera County Clerk, at 500 Main Street, is the probate filing counter and is open Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Bandera County District Clerk is a different office at 3360 State Hwy 173 N with different hours, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with a noon closure, and serves the 198th District Court. The county's published mandatory e-filing notice comes from that office, which is why its wording is about civil filings there; a probate application still goes to the County Clerk. A district court touches a Bandera estate only if the County Judge transfers a contested matter to it under Estates Code § 32.003(a)(2), and even then the county court keeps the management of the rest of the estate (§ 32.003(g)).

There is no standing probate docket day, and the docket the county posts is criminal. The County Clerk publishes a court calendar and a County Court docket, but the posted docket is a criminal one, with arraignments at 9:00 a.m., a hot check docket at 10:00 a.m. and further arraignment settings in the afternoon on the same day. The clerk's published calendar shows probate matters set individually rather than on a weekly probate docket, including a probate jury trial set across February 17 to 20, 2026 and a probate bench trial on June 26, 2026. So ask the County Clerk what your setting will be instead of assuming a docket day, and do not count on a remote appearance, because none is published.

The county calls it the probate court in its own paperwork, and that is not a contradiction. Bandera's 2015 standing order is captioned "IN THE PROBATE COURT OF BANDERA COUNTY, TEXAS" and the County Judge's memos are addressed to the probate court, yet Bandera has no statutory probate court. Both are correct, because the Estates Code says the terms "county court" and "probate court" are synonymous and both include a county court exercising its probate jurisdiction (§ 22.007(b)). The institution is the Bandera County Court, the constitutional county court (§ 32.002(a)); the phrase is a function word. Ask the clerk how it wants a new case styled rather than copying a caption from an old order.

Bandera County is one of the Texas counties where the answer to "do I need a lawyer" is largely settled by the court itself. The County Judge's published policy states that individuals applying for letters testamentary, letters of administration, a determination of heirship or a guardianship of the person or estate must be represented by a licensed attorney, on the ground that an executor or administrator represents the interests of beneficiaries and creditors rather than only themselves. The single exception the policy describes is a sole beneficiary probating a will as a muniment of title where the estate has no debts other than those secured by liens against real estate (Estates Code chapter 257), and the policy says even that choice is a legal decision. Beyond the policy, counsel earns its keep here when a will or an appointment is likely to be challenged, when there is no will and the heirs have to be determined, when real property has to be sold or divided, when the estate is insolvent or a creditor is pressing, or when Medicaid benefits after March 1, 2005 put the muniment of title route in doubt. The contested route also rewards early advice: if a matter becomes contested the County Judge may on the judge's own motion, and shall on the motion of any party, request the assignment of a statutory probate court judge or transfer the contested matter to the district court (Estates Code § 32.003(a)), and a motion for assignment filed before a transfer must be granted (§ 32.003(b)). The county's own March 2026 appointment and fee report shows the County Court appointing an attorney ad litem in a decedent's estate, which is a reminder that estates here can draw court-appointed counsel as well. County Clerk staff can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice, and their own rules say so. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Texas probate attorney serving Bandera County and the surrounding Hill Country.

Find the accounts and assets. Sunset searches more than 2,300 financial institutions and public records to surface bank and credit union accounts, retirement plans, brokerage holdings, life insurance, Bandera County real property and unclaimed property, so you know what the estate holds and which route fits before estate settlement paperwork is filed in Bandera.

Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the paperwork for your route, drafted to Bandera County's own requirements, including the Medicaid sentence the County Judge asks for in a muniment of title proof of death and the notice the clerk must attach where a will cannot be produced, ready to file with the Bandera County Clerk.

Find a local probate attorney. Bandera County's published policy requires a licensed attorney for most probate applications, so Sunset connects families to a vetted Texas probate attorney serving Bandera County.

Sunset is free for families. Revenue comes from bank partners that pay Sunset while estate funds sit in an FDIC-insured estate account ($3M coverage).