Bexar County, TX Probate Information

Before you file anything in Bexar County, know what is in the estate, how each asset is titled, and what is owed. Which Texas route fits depends on whether there is a will, whether the estate owes unpaid debts other than debts secured by liens on real estate, whether all the heirs agree, and what the assets are actually worth. Those routes are created by state statute and are identical in all 254 counties, so they are covered on the Texas state page. Getting the route right before the first filing matters more here than in most Texas counties for two reasons. The courts publish a written policy that limits what a person may file without a lawyer to a muniment of title (Estates Code chapter 257) and a small estate affidavit, and both of those turn on the debt and asset picture. And the clerk's own small estate affidavit policy states that refunds are not issued once the affidavit has been filed, so a filing made on a guess costs the fee twice.

Identify every bank and credit union account, retirement plan, brokerage holding, life insurance policy, vehicle, business interest and parcel of Bexar County real estate, along with every debt, before you file. Titling decides whether an asset reaches the court at all: property held with a right of survivorship, accounts with a named beneficiary, and San Antonio-area land covered by a transfer on death deed recorded before death pass directly to the survivor or beneficiary and never reach a probate court. Two Bexar-specific traps sit in this step. The Probate Court No. 2 small estate affidavit checklist says an affidavit cannot be approved with any asset of unknown value, and that the court always checks the real property records before approving one. And for a muniment of title, an heirship with no administration or a small estate affidavit, a decedent who received Medicaid benefits on or after March 1, 2005 means the courts expect proof that the estate is not subject to a Medicaid Estate Recovery Program claim, which they publish a certification form for. Sunset's asset-discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for this step, so the application you or your attorney e-file describes the estate accurately the first time and the inventory that follows is right.

Bexar County's probate work runs through three statutory probate courts and one filing counter. Probate Court No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 of Bexar County, Texas are created by Government Code § 25.0171(c), and in a county that has a statutory probate court, that court has original jurisdiction of probate proceedings (Estates Code § 32.002(c)). Every application, whatever the route, is filed with the Bexar County Clerk's Probate Department at the Bexar County Courthouse, 100 Dolorosa, San Antonio, TX 78205, because the county clerk serves as clerk of each statutory probate court (Government Code § 25.0030(b)). There is no branch or annex counter for opening an estate, and the county's fifteen county courts at law cannot take a probate case: in a county that has a statutory probate court, a statutory probate court is the only county court created by statute with probate jurisdiction, and a statutory county court does not have the jurisdiction of a statutory probate court (Government Code § 25.0003(e) and (f)). The three courts serve the entire county, including San Antonio, the county seat, and the other cities the county's own taxing-entity roster lists inside Bexar County: Alamo Heights, Balcones Heights, Castle Hills, China Grove, Converse, Elmendorf, Grey Forest, Helotes, Hill Country Village, Hollywood Park, Kirby, Leon Valley, Live Oak, Olmos Park, St. Hedwig, Sandy Oaks, Selma, Shavano Park, Somerset, Terrell Hills, Universal City, Von Ormy and Windcrest, together with the parts of Cibolo, Fair Oaks Ranch, Lytle and Schertz that fall in the county and the large unincorporated areas around them.

Venue is the county where the decedent lived. You file in the county in which the decedent resided, if the decedent had a domicile or fixed place of residence in Texas (Estates Code § 33.001(a)(1)). 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)). This is worth checking in greater San Antonio, because the metropolitan area spills into Comal, Guadalupe, Wilson, Atascosa, Medina, Kendall and Bandera Counties, and a San Antonio mailing address does not by itself put an estate in Bexar County. Each of those counties has its own court and its own filing counter, and none of them has a statutory probate court, so an estate that belongs in one of them follows a different path. Probate Court No. 2 makes the point in its own small estate affidavit checklist: an affidavit should be filed in the county where the decedent resided, it is unusual for the court to approve one for a decedent who did not have a fixed place of residence in Bexar County, and if Bexar is not that county the application has to plead facts supporting venue here.

Which of the three courts hears your case is decided by the clerk at random, and that rule is in the statute rather than in a local rule. Notwithstanding the local rules adopted under Government Code § 74.093, the county clerk shall docket all mental health matters in Probate Court No. 1 and shall assign equally among the statutory probate courts in Bexar County and docket at random all other matters and proceedings filed in them (Government Code § 25.0173(o)). Probate Court No. 1 also has primary responsibility for mental illness proceedings (§ 25.0173(n)), which is why the clerk runs a separate Mental Health section at 300 Dolorosa, and all eminent domain cases are docketed equally among the three courts (§ 25.0173(a)). One more Bexar provision matters when a judge is away: notwithstanding Government Code § 25.0022(h), the statutory probate judges in Bexar County may sit and act for each other in any probate matter, and one may hear and determine any matter pending in another Bexar probate court or enter any order in it that the other judge could enter (§ 25.0173(p)).

A contested matter does not leave the probate court here, and that is the biggest structural difference between Bexar County and most of Texas. In a county with a statutory probate court, that court has exclusive jurisdiction of all probate proceedings, regardless of whether contested or uncontested, and a cause of action related to the probate proceeding must be brought in a statutory probate court unless its jurisdiction is concurrent with a district court under Estates Code § 32.007 or with another court (§ 32.005(a)). So there is no transfer to a district court and no request for an assigned judge when a will contest or an heirship dispute breaks out: the same Bexar County probate judge keeps the case, and the courts hear it in person. Probate Court No. 3 states that contested court proceedings are in person, with a hybrid setting only if all parties agree, and that a certificate of conference must be on all filings for contested proceedings. Probate Court No. 2 states that contested matters will be held in person and must be set through the court coordinator rather than through its online portal. In Probate Court No. 2 an associate judge, appointed under the court's Omnibus Order of Referral of February 26, 2025, may hear any class of proceeding assigned to him with the authority set out in Government Code § 54A.209, a party may object under § 54A.207, and a party who wants a de novo hearing before the referring court files the request with the county clerk under § 54A.216.

Three courts, and the statute makes the clerk assign your case at random. Most multi-court Texas counties allocate probate cases by local rule. Bexar's allocation is in the Government Code. Notwithstanding the local rules adopted under § 74.093, the county clerk shall docket all mental health matters in Probate Court No. 1 and shall assign equally among the statutory probate courts in Bexar County and docket at random all other matters and proceedings filed in them (§ 25.0173(o)), and Probate Court No. 1 also has primary responsibility for mental illness proceedings (§ 25.0173(n)). All eminent domain cases are docketed equally among the three (§ 25.0173(a)). You do not choose your judge, and because the three courts run their calendars and their pre-hearing review differently, the first thing to do after filing is read the assigned court's own page.

The pro se policy is written down, and it names exactly two routes. Under the Bexar County Probate Court No. 2 Court Policy Regarding Pro Se Applicants, August 12, 2019, only a licensed attorney may represent the interests of third-party individuals or entities, including guardianship wards and probate estates, so individuals applying for letters testamentary, letters of administration, determinations of heirship, and guardianships of the person or estate must be represented by a licensed attorney, and the only proceedings a person may handle alone are those in which the person truly represents only himself or herself. The policy answers the obvious objection: an executor does not represent only himself, but the interests of beneficiaries and creditors, which is a fiduciary relationship. It adds that lawyers do more than fill out forms, and that a non-lawyer creating legal pleadings while acting as a fiduciary would be the unauthorized practice of law. The county's Probate a Will page names the two documents the courts publish that can be done without a lawyer: the muniment of title (Estates Code chapter 257) and the small estate affidavit. Probate Court No. 2 goes one step further and staffs it, listing uncontested muniment of title as a pro se matter handled by one of its staff attorneys.

The small estate affidavit form is effectively mandatory, and the fee is not refundable. Under Bexar County Probate Courts Administrative Order No. 2019-02 on the form for small estate affidavits, signed July 15, 2019, every applicant filing a small estate affidavit on or after September 1, 2019 must submit the proposed form and order in substantial compliance with the form attached to that order and published on the court's website, with all blanks filled in. The clerk's policy of January 20, 2021 adds that filing fees are due at the time of filing, payable in cash, check or debit or credit card, and that refunds are not issued once the affidavit has been filed, so the filer bears the risk of getting it wrong. Probate Court No. 2's own seven-page checklist is unusually candid about that risk: it says banks, insurance companies and title companies often tell people to file a small estate affidavit without thinking about the limited situations in which one can be approved, that many are denied for problems that cannot be fixed, that heirs may fill one out without an attorney but an attorney's advice may prevent wasted time and money, and that the court always checks the real property records before approving one.

No hearing until your documents are pre-cleared. All three courts gate the calendar on paperwork, and this is the most common reason a Bexar setting slips. Probate Court No. 1 requires a file review by its paralegal before a will, letters, administration, heirship or guardianship matter can be set, and requires the fiat e-filed within three business days of choosing a slot. Probate Court No. 2 requires the checklist completed before a hearing is requested and requires unsigned proofs of death, oaths, witness affidavits and the proposed order to be e-filed as separate lead documents for review first. Probate Court No. 3 requires the checklist confirmed and all documents accepted by the probate clerk before counsel contacts the court, and the fiat accepted no later than three days before the proceeding. Its letter to counsel is blunt about the consequence: failure to comply with the notice requirements will cause the proceeding to be dropped from the schedule.

Contested matters stay here, and they are heard in person. In a county with a statutory probate court, that court has exclusive jurisdiction of all probate proceedings, regardless of whether contested or uncontested (Estates Code § 32.005(a)). There is no transfer of a contested matter to a district court and no request for an assigned judge, both of which are the norm in the 156 Texas counties that have only a constitutional county court. Bexar's courts add their own practice on top: Probate Court No. 3 hears contested proceedings in person, allows a hybrid setting only if all parties agree, and requires a certificate of conference on all filings in a contested matter; Probate Court No. 2 states that contested matters will be held in person and must be set through the court coordinator rather than its online portal. Bexar's probate courts also carry eminent domain jurisdiction and jurisdiction to decide the issue of title to real or personal property (Government Code § 25.0173(a)), which matters when an estate's fight is really about title to land.

Personal service goes through the sheriff or constable. Under the Bexar probate courts' Administrative Order No. 2021-01, effective April 1, 2021, where personal service of citation or notice is required or requested on an individual who is in Texas, service shall be by the sheriff or constable unless a statute specifically provides otherwise. The order explains itself by reference to Estates Code § 51.051(b), and the companion Administrative Order No. 2021-02 of April 9, 2021 applies the same approach in guardianship matters following an order of the Presiding Judge of the Statutory Probate Courts of Texas. The practical effect is a cost and a lead time: citation by the constable's office is $92.00 plus an $8.00 issuance fee, against $8.00 for private process, which is the cheaper route the order restricts.

Bexar has fifteen county courts at law and none of them does probate. Government Code § 25.0171(b) lists County Court at Law No. 1 through No. 15 of Bexar County, Texas, and readers sometimes assume one of them handles estates because that is how the middle tier of Texas counties works. It is not how Bexar works. In a county that has a statutory probate court, a statutory probate court is the only county court created by statute with probate jurisdiction, and a statutory county court does not have the jurisdiction of a statutory probate court (Government Code § 25.0003(e) and (f)). File in the probate courts through the county clerk's Probate Department, and do not take an estate to a county court at law or to the district clerk.

The county's own case search is free and its portal changed. Bexar runs its own Justice Information Portal, which consolidated the older court records, fugitive and bail bond searches into one application at portal-txbexar.tylertech.cloud/Portal/, and the county asks readers to update bookmarks that pointed at the old addresses. The county clerk's probate page sends estate name searches there. The county's user guide states that registration is not required for public access, that searches accept a case number or a name in last, first order with wildcard support, that results can be filtered by case type, case status, file date range and judicial officer, and that a maximum of 200 results is shown, with a separate search for hearings. The county publishes no coverage start date for probate records and warns that what you get is not a replacement for official records, so ask the clerk at 210-335-2241 for anything you need to rely on.

Guardianship case numbers changed on October 1, 2025. The clerk's Probate Department announced a new case numbering system for guardianship cases effective October 1, 2025, applying to all new guardianship filings submitted on or after that date, with formats such as 2025-GRD1-00000 for guardianships and 2025-GAL1-00000 for guardian ad litem cases, and the digit reflecting the court. Filers are told to select the guardianship case type when filing initial documents, to use the new format for all new guardianship filings, and to reflect the updated style in later filings. This affects guardianships rather than decedents' estates, but it is handled by the same department, and it is a reminder to check the number the clerk assigns rather than the one you expected.

The county's electronic filing rules are old, and the statewide rules control. The Bexar County Local Rules of the County Courts concerning the Electronic Filing of Court Documents in Civil Cases are still published on the clerk's probate page, and they are useful for one thing: their Rule 3.3 list of documents that cannot be e-filed, namely citations or writs bearing the seal of the court, bonds, wills and codicils, subpoenas and proof of their service, in camera and sealed documents and documents whose access is restricted by law or court order, and their Rule 3.4 requirement that anything verified, notarized, acknowledged or sworn to be e-filed only as a scanned image. But they also describe e-filing as wholly optional pending a January 1, 2014 mandate, refer to the statewide system by its superseded 2012 working name, and cite Supreme Court of Texas Misc. Docket No. 13-9092, which Misc. Docket No. 13-9164 superseded and vacated on December 9, 2013. The current rule is Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f): attorneys must e-file where e-filing is mandated, and unrepresented parties may e-file but are not required to.

Bexar County is one of the Texas counties where this question has a published answer, so start there rather than with general Texas advice. Under the Bexar County Probate Court No. 2 Court Policy Regarding Pro Se Applicants, August 12, 2019, only a licensed attorney may represent the interests of third-party individuals or entities, including guardianship wards and probate estates, so individuals applying for letters testamentary, letters of administration, determinations of heirship, and guardianships of the person or estate must be represented by a licensed attorney, and the only proceedings a person may handle alone are those in which the person truly represents only himself or herself. The county's Probate a Will page adds the enforcement: unless the applicant is a licensed attorney, filing an application to probate a will without an attorney constitutes the unauthorized practice of law and will not be allowed by the court. You do not need to be a lawyer to serve as executor, administrator or guardian; you need a lawyer to apply. Two routes are carved out by name and both are published by the courts: probate of a will as a muniment of title (Estates Code chapter 257) and the small estate affidavit, which all of a decedent's heirs may file together in the limited situations where it fits. Beyond the policy, counsel makes sense for the usual reasons and for some Bexar-specific ones: when a will is contested or an heirship is disputed, because a statutory probate court keeps the contested matter rather than sending it to a district court (Estates Code § 32.005(a)) and Bexar hears contested matters in person; when a will is being offered more than four years after death (Estates Code § 256.003), which requires notice by service of process to the testator's heirs (§ 258.051) and proof that the applicant was not in default; when the will cannot be produced and a copy must be probated; when San Antonio real estate has to be sold through a dependent administration; when a nonresident must appoint a resident agent to qualify (Estates Code § 304.003(a)(3)); when the estate faces a Medicaid Estate Recovery Program claim; and when a guardianship runs alongside the estate. Practical point: all three Bexar courts require an attorney to complete and file a checklist before a hearing will be set, which is work counsel is set up to do. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Bexar County probate attorney when the situation calls for counsel.

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, Bexar County real estate, business interests and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value and its debts, and therefore which Texas route fits for estate settlement, before anything is filed at 100 Dolorosa.

Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the paperwork for your route and pairs it with the Bexar County documents the courts require, from the clerk's small estate affidavit form to the assigned court's checklist, prepared so an attorney can e-file it through eFileTexas.gov.

Find a local probate attorney. Bexar County's courts require a licensed attorney for letters, heirship determinations and guardianships, so counsel is the norm here rather than the exception. Sunset connects families to a vetted Texas probate attorney serving Bexar County and the San Antonio area.

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).