Harris County, TX Probate Information

Before you file anything in Harris 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 your first filing matters more in Harris County than in most Texas counties, because the courts here publish a written policy requiring a licensed attorney for the main routes, and the two routes a person can bring alone, probate of a will as a muniment of title (Estates Code § 257.001) and the small estate affidavit, are the two that depend most on getting the debt and asset picture right first. Filing the wrong application means paying the $360.00 fee twice (Local Government Code § 135.102(a)(1)).

Identify every bank and credit union account, retirement plan, brokerage holding, life insurance policy, vehicle, business interest and parcel of Harris 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 Houston-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. 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 so the inventory that follows is right.

Harris County's probate work runs through five statutory probate courts and one filing counter. Probate Court No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 of Harris County, Texas are created by Government Code § 25.1031(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 Harris County Clerk's Probate Department at 201 Caroline, Suite 800, Houston, TX 77002, because the county clerk serves as clerk of each statutory probate court (Government Code § 25.0030(b)). There is no separate district, branch or annex probate counter for opening an estate, and the county's county civil courts at law cannot take a probate case at all: a county civil court at law in Harris County does not have the jurisdiction of a probate court (Government Code § 25.1032(a)). The five courts serve the entire county, including Houston, the county seat, and Pasadena, Baytown, Deer Park, La Porte, Humble, Katy, Bellaire, West University Place, Southside Place, Hunters Creek Village, Piney Point Village, Bunker Hill Village, Hedwig Village, Hilshire Village, Spring Valley Village, Jersey Village, Tomball, Webster, Seabrook, Nassau Bay, El Lago, Taylor Lake Village, Galena Park, Jacinto City, South Houston, Morgan's Point, Shoreacres, Waller and Katy's Harris County portion, together with the unincorporated communities including Spring, Cypress, Atascocita, Channelview, Aldine, Klein, Crosby, Huffman, Barrett and Sheldon.

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 matters in greater Houston more than almost anywhere else in Texas, because the metropolitan area spans nine counties and a Houston mailing address does not by itself put an estate in Harris County. Homes with Houston, Katy, Spring, Cypress, Humble, Tomball or Pearland addresses can sit in Fort Bend, Montgomery, Waller, Liberty, Chambers, Brazoria or Galveston County, each of which has its own court and its own filing counter, and two of those, Montgomery and Galveston, have statutory probate courts of their own. Confirm which county the decedent's home actually sat in before you file.

Which of the five courts hears your case is decided by the clerk, not by you. The Local Rules of the Probate Courts of Harris County, Texas provide that all new estate administrations, guardianships and trust matters filed in the probate courts are assigned to a court in accordance with Government Code § 25.1034, and that each case is assigned a docket number sequentially. Once assigned, a case stays put: every later matter involving the same decedent is filed in the original file, under the same docket number and in the same court, ancillary matters take the original docket number plus a suffix beginning with 4, wills filed for probate at the same time for a husband and wife both go to the court holding the lower-numbered case, and a decedent's estate where the decedent had been a ward goes to the court in which the guardianship was pending. The local rules also state that the county clerk files, dockets, transfers and assigns cases as directed by those rules. Mental health work is the one assignment rule set by statute: Probate Court No. 3 has primary responsibility for mental illness proceedings and Probate Court No. 4 secondary responsibility (Government Code § 25.1034(b)), and the courts' own jurisdiction page lists mental health matters as Probate Courts 3 and 4 only.

A contested matter does not leave the probate court here, and that is the single biggest structural difference between Harris 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 Harris County probate judge keeps the case. The courts' own jurisdiction page makes the concurrent-jurisdiction point in a footnote, noting that statutory probate courts have concurrent jurisdiction with district courts in lawsuits by or against executors, administrators, guardians and trustees. The local rules add that transfers between the Harris probate courts happen only on the written order of both the transferring and the receiving court, and that where a judge recuses, the presiding judge orders the county clerk to re-assign the case at random to another Harris County probate court.

The pro se policy is written down, and it is the first thing to read. Most Texas counties leave the question of whether you need a lawyer unanswered. Harris publishes a one-page Policy Regarding Pro Se Applicants, effective February 12, 2007, and it says that under Texas law 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. Its reasoning is that only a licensed attorney may represent the interests of third parties, and that an executor represents the interests of beneficiaries and creditors rather than only himself or herself. You can still serve as executor, administrator or guardian without being a lawyer; the policy is about who may appear and draft. Two routes are carved out by name: a pro se applicant may apply to probate a will as a muniment of title where 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 (Estates Code § 257.001), and a small estate affidavit application is appropriate for a pro se applicant. One caution about the document itself: it still cites the repealed Texas Probate Code for the small estate affidavit, so read the current chapter 205 of the Estates Code alongside it, and note that Probate Court No. 4's own FAQ frames the muniment carve-out as requiring all beneficiaries to be co-applicants.

No hearing until the original will is physically on file. The statewide rule is that wills are not required to be filed electronically (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(4)(A)) and that the original must reach the clerk within three business days of the e-filed application (Rule 21(f)(12)). Harris adds the enforcement. Under Harris County Probate Courts Administrative Order 2019-1, signed June 4, 2019, because the court must have time to inspect the will before a hearing, parties will not be permitted to set a hearing unless the original will is on file with the clerk, and the same rule applies to the physical copy relied on in an application to probate a lost will. If you are handling a Harris estate from out of town, this is the one step that cannot be done online: the wet-ink will has to arrive at 201 Caroline, Suite 800, or at the P.O. Box 1525 mailing address, before the calendar will move.

Five courts, and the clerk decides which one you get. The local rules provide that all new estate administrations, guardianships and trust matters are assigned to a court in accordance with Government Code § 25.1034, with docket numbers assigned sequentially, and that the county clerk files, dockets, transfers and assigns cases as directed by those rules. You do not choose your judge. Once assigned, the case stays: later matters go in the original file under the same docket number and in the same court, ancillary matters take a suffix beginning with 4, husband-and-wife wills filed together go to the court with the lower-numbered case, and a former ward's estate goes to the court that had the guardianship. Mental health is the statutory exception: Probate Court No. 3 has primary responsibility for mental illness proceedings and Probate Court No. 4 secondary (Government Code § 25.1034(b)).

The five courts practise differently, so read the assigned court's own page. This is the practical consequence of a five-court bench and it catches people who read only the clerk's site. Under Harris County Probate Courts Administrative Order 2019-1, signed June 4, 2019, in Probate Courts 2, 3 and 4 the order, the judgment declaring heirship, the proof of death and other facts, the statement of facts, the proof by a subscribing witness and the oath are presented as originals to the judge on the day of the hearing, while in Probate Court 1 those documents and all proposed orders may be filed electronically. Probate Court No. 2 accepts unsworn declarations in place of notarized signatures for oaths, proofs of death, witness statements, inventories and annual accounts. Probate Court No. 4 requires witnesses to be in the lawyer's office during a Zoom uncontested docket. Probate Court No. 5 forbids Zoom participation by smartphone or tablet and will pass a hearing where someone appears that way. The dockets sit on different days in each court.

Contested matters stay here, and that is the Harris structure. 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. The courts do hold concurrent jurisdiction with the district courts in lawsuits by or against executors, administrators, guardians and trustees (§ 32.007), which their own jurisdiction page notes. The local rules add the contested-track detail: except for good cause, only cases that have undergone a previously ordered alternative dispute resolution procedure will be tried; contested cases not set for trial and on file more than three years are subject to dismissal for want of prosecution; and the courts observe dead weeks in which no case is assigned to trial, namely the week of the Texas Bar advanced estate planning and probate program and any December week beginning December 22 to 31.

The local rules are dated 2019 and predate the fifth court. The published Local Rules of the Probate Courts of Harris County, Texas were adopted on May 7, 2019 and ordered effective on approval by the Supreme Court of Texas under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 3a, and they are signed by the judges of Probate Courts 1 through 4, because Probate Court No. 5 did not exist until September 1, 2023. The court's site does not publish the Supreme Court's approval, and the rules PDF is a scanned image with no text layer. Treat the rules as the courts' published statement of local practice, and confirm any rule that matters to your case with the court that has it.

Two published mistakes on the county's own websites. Both are worth knowing because they will mislead you. First, the Harris County Clerk's probate page still says the Probate Courts Department serves as the clerks for the four statutory probate courts in Harris County, and its court hyperlinks stop at the fourth court, while its own judges block on the same page lists five judges and Government Code § 25.1031(c) has listed five courts since September 1, 2023. Second, the address most directories carry for Harris probate, 2800 S. MacGregor Way, Houston 77021, is the mental health warrant intake location, where warrant forms must be presented and signed in person, on a line of its own, 713-741-6014. It is not the probate filing counter. Estates are filed at 201 Caroline, Suite 800, and the probate line is (713) 274-8585, not the (713) 274-6390 Public Records and Data Sales desk.

Harris runs a Public Probate Administrator. The county maintains a Public Probate Administrator's office, at 201 Caroline Street, Suite 607, Houston, Texas 77002, 832-927-1422, with its own site at ppa.harriscountytx.gov. Very few Texas counties have one, and the office exists for estates where no suitable person is available to administer. It is not a substitute for a family opening an estate, but it is the right place to ask when there is genuinely no one to serve.

Fee applications are measured against a published standard. The courts publish Standards for Court Approval of Attorney Fee Applications, revised on March 6, 2025, and they also publish annual Probate Appointments and Fees Reports and Mental Health Appointments and Fees Reports. In a dependent administration or a guardianship, where attorney and fiduciary fees are reviewed by the court, that standard is what the application is measured against, and Probate Court No. 1 reviews those fees on a dedicated Friday administration docket. In an independent administration the court is generally not involved in fees at all (Estates Code § 402.001).

The clerk's case index reaches back to 1837. The Harris County Clerk's probate case search publishes its own coverage, and it is deeper than the statewide portal: it reflects filings accepted 11/17/1837 to present, with images available from 1/1/2008 to present, searchable by case number, party, attorney or company and filterable to any of the five courts. A separate page searches court settings, so you can look up the docket date for a case or review a court's schedule. Registered users view and print watermarked copies free. That is a genuinely useful research tool for an old Harris County estate, and it is not something re:SearchTX offers.

Harris County is the Texas county where this question has a published answer, so start there rather than with general Texas advice. Under the Harris County Probate Courts' Policy Regarding Pro Se Applicants, effective February 12, 2007, 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, because an executor, administrator or guardian acts for beneficiaries, creditors or a ward rather than only for himself or herself. You do not need to be a lawyer to serve in those roles; you need a lawyer to apply for them. The policy carves out two routes a person may bring alone: probate of a will as a muniment of title where the applicant is the sole beneficiary and the estate owes no debt other than debts secured by liens against real estate (Estates Code § 257.001), and a small estate affidavit application on the courts' approved form. Probate Court No. 4 states the muniment carve-out as requiring all beneficiaries to be co-applicants, so confirm the position with the assigned court. Beyond the policy, counsel makes sense for the usual reasons and for some Harris-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 the local rules require alternative dispute resolution before trial; when a will is being offered more than four years after death (Estates Code § 256.003) or cannot be produced in court; when the decedent had minor children and separate property, which Probate Court No. 4 says will draw a dependent administration rather than an independent one; when Houston 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)); and when a guardianship runs alongside the estate. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Harris 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, Harris County real estate, business interests and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value and its debts, and therefore which Texas estate settlement route fits, before anything is filed at 201 Caroline.

Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the paperwork for your route and pairs it with the Harris County Clerk's own decrees, oaths, affidavits and inventory forms, prepared so an attorney can e-file it through eFileTexas.gov and printed and scanned where the clerk requires that.

Find a local probate attorney. Harris 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 Harris County and the Houston 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).