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Harrison County, TX Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Current rules |
|---|---|
| Court | Two courts share the jurisdiction. Harrison County has no statutory probate court, but it does have one statutory county court: "Harrison County has one statutory county court, the County Court at Law of Harrison County", and that court "sits in Marshall" (Government Code § 25.1041). A statutory county court has, concurrent with the county court, the probate jurisdiction provided by general law for county courts (Government Code § 25.0003(d)), so the County Court at Law and the Harrison County Court have concurrent original jurisdiction of probate proceedings (Texas Estates Code § 32.002(b)). Harrison publishes no probate carve-out for its county court at law: the county-specific provision, Government Code § 25.1042, adds district-court jurisdiction on assignment and removes nothing from the probate grant |
| Which court hears estates | The County Court at Law in practice, on the county's own documents. The court's published General Docket for March 30, 2026 lists six matters typed "Probate Hearing", every one an estate carrying a county court at law cause number, including muniment of title applications (Estates Code chapter 257) and applications for independent letters testamentary, plus a separately docketed guardianship of an adult, before Judge Joe Black (verified July 2026). The County Clerk's monthly appointment and fees report under chapter 36 of the Government Code shows the same numbering. Harrison publishes no docket-assignment rule, so treat this as the published pattern and confirm your own setting with the County Clerk |
| Filing office | The Harrison County Clerk, Heather Henigan (named on the clerk's own page and on the clerk's filing stamp, verified July 2026), who is the clerk of the county court (Texas Constitution article V, § 20) and the clerk of the county court at law in probate matters. Government Code § 25.1042(c) puts it beyond doubt: the district clerk serves as clerk of the county court at law in cases assigned from a district court, "and the county clerk serves as clerk of the court in all other cases." The clerk's own page says the office "supplies support personnel for civil, criminal, probate, mental, and juvenile court matters" and lists a senior deputy assigned as probate clerk. The Harrison County District Clerk handles civil, family, child support, property tax suits, adult felony cases and passports, and does not open estates |
| Courthouse | Harrison County Courthouse, 200 W. Houston, Suite 143, Marshall, TX 75670, for the County Clerk's filing counter. The County Court at Law is in Suite 263 of the same building, and the District Clerk in Suite 234. Do not go to the Harrison County Historic Courthouse at 1 Peter Whetstone Square: that building holds the County Judge's office in Room 314 and the Commissioners Court courtroom, not the probate filing counter |
| Mailing address | Harrison County Clerk, P.O. Box 1365, Marshall, TX 75671. Use the Suite 143 street address for anything hand delivered, including an original will. The clerk publishes a turnaround caveat worth planning around: "Clerks have 10 days to respond to all email / mail request from customers" |
| Phone | 903-935-8403, the Harrison County Clerk's line, published on the clerk's own page and in the county directory. No separate probate counter line is published; probate questions go to the clerk's probate mailbox instead. The number in the county site footer, 903-935-8400, is the county switchboard. The County Court at Law is 903-935-8406 and the County Judge 903-935-8401 |
| Fax | 903-935-4877, published by the County Clerk |
| [email protected], the dedicated probate mailbox on the County Clerk's published contact list. Harrison routes records, marriage, vital statistics, misdemeanor, civil and probate questions to six separate departmental addresses, so use the probate one and include the case number | |
| Office hours | Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., per the County Clerk's own page (verified July 2026). The Friday early close is real and easy to miss. The county's Contact Us page advertises wider building hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekdays; the clerk's page is the authoritative one for the counter. The clerk adds: "Holidays and unforeseen circumstances can affect office hours. Feel free to contact our office prior to arrival" |
| Filing fee | $445.00 to open a probate case, the figure the Harrison County Clerk publishes in its own fee schedule headed January 1, 2026: "PROBATE ... $445.00", covering the filing of a probate of a will (either as a muniment of title or for letters testamentary), an administration, a declaration of heirship, an application to sell property of a minor, and guardianships. Inside that total sits the statewide statutory base fee, identical in every Texas county: a $223 local consolidated fee (Local Government Code § 135.102(a)(1)) plus a $137 state consolidated fee (Local Government Code § 133.151(a)(1)), giving $360, the amounts enacted by S.B. 41 effective January 1, 2022 and since amended. The county's schedule does not itemize the probate total, and citation service is priced separately, so confirm the current figure with the County Clerk before you file |
| Local forms | None for opening an estate. Texas publishes no comprehensive set of probate procedure forms, and the Harrison County Clerk publishes no probate application, order, oath, inventory or small estate affidavit template: its published forms are assumed name, birth and death records, marriage license and marks and brands documents. The County Court at Law separately publishes three guardianship account documents, a Report on the Condition of a Ward, an Annual Account and an Order Approving Annual Account, which are generic templates with blank county and court lines. The statewide form a Harrison County filer may need is the Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 145) |
| E-filing | Mandatory for attorneys, optional for self-represented filers. Attorneys must electronically file in probate cases in every Texas county, through eFileTexas.gov; an unrepresented party may e-file but is not required to (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(1)). The Harrison County Clerk links the statewide system from its own page and notes that electronic filing with this office covers criminal, civil, probate and guardianship matters. Harrison publishes no county e-filing effective date and no probate-specific e-filing notice, so if you are filing without a lawyer, call 903-935-8403 or write to [email protected] and ask what the counter will accept |
| Case search | Yes, in two places, and the county states the split itself. The County Clerk's "Court Records & Probate Search" panel links an Odyssey Web Portal described as "Judicial Records Search & Probate Filings after 2005" and a Kofile QuickLink site for "Probate records prior to 2005". Kofile's own page confirms it carries Harrison County "Probate Minutes - from 1800s - 2005" as index books with documents available for purchase. The Odyssey portal presented a sign-in page when checked in July 2026, so allow for a registration step. For an official copy, or where you have no cause number, the clerk runs a written records search: its schedule prices a ten-year search of criminal, probate and civil records at $5.00 per name, payable in advance, plus $1.00 per page copied and $5.00 for each certification |
| Remote appearance | Not published. Neither the County Court at Law nor the County Clerk publishes a remote-appearance rule for probate, and the court's published general docket sets probate hearings in the courtroom alongside civil, family and juvenile matters. Ask the court through the County Clerk before assuming you can appear by video |
| Website | https://www.harrisoncountytexas.gov/page/CountyClerk (the Harrison County Clerk, with the fee schedule, the probate mailbox, the records search panel and the office hours) and https://www.harrisoncountytexas.gov/page/CCatLaw (the County Court at Law, with its dockets, its guardianship documents and its local rules) |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you file anything in Marshall, know what is actually 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. Getting the answer before your first filing matters here because Harrison County prices the routes differently: the County Clerk's January 1, 2026 schedule charges $445.00 to file a probate of a will, an administration, a declaration of heirship or a small estate, and $355.00 to probate a foreign will, and a case filed on the wrong footing has to be filed again.
Identify every bank and credit union account, retirement plan, brokerage holding, life insurance policy, vehicle and parcel of Harrison 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 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 Harrison County Clerk describes the estate accurately the first time.
Which court handles jurisdiction
The Harrison County Courthouse at 200 W. Houston in Marshall is the single probate filing location for the whole county. There is no branch or annex counter for estates: the County Clerk takes filings in Suite 143, the County Court at Law sits in Suite 263 of the same building, and the District Clerk is in Suite 234. The court serves every part of the county, including Marshall, Hallsville, Waskom and Harleton and the rural areas between them. Because attorneys file electronically through eFileTexas.gov, most of the paperwork in an uncontested estate never requires a trip to the counter; the two things that still tie you to Marshall are the original will, which has to be physically delivered, and the hearing.
Venue is straightforward for an East Texas 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 Harrison County, the case belongs here, even if they died in a hospital in Longview, Tyler or Shreveport. For a decedent with no Texas domicile or fixed place of 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 most often gotten wrong on a county of this size. Harrison County has no statutory probate court. It does have one statutory county court, the County Court at Law of Harrison County, which sits in Marshall (Government Code § 25.1041), and which has, concurrent with the county court, the probate jurisdiction provided by general law for county courts (Government Code § 25.0003(d)). So the rule that applies is Estates Code § 32.002(b): in a county with no statutory probate court but with a county court at law exercising original probate jurisdiction, the county court at law and the county court have concurrent original jurisdiction of probate proceedings. Neither court displaces the other, and the County Court at Law is not a statutory probate court: the Estates Code says that term does not include a county court at law exercising probate jurisdiction unless it is designated a statutory probate court under Government Code chapter 25 (§ 22.007(c)), and Harrison has no such designation. What the county's own filings show is where the estates land in practice. The General Docket the County Court at Law published for March 30, 2026 carries six settings typed "Probate Hearing", all of them estates with county court at law cause numbers, plus a separately docketed guardianship of an adult, and the County Clerk's chapter 36 appointment and fees report for June 2026 shows an estate matter numbered the same way.
If a matter in the proceeding becomes contested, Harrison County follows the county-court-at-law route, not the small-county route. Under Estates Code § 32.004(a), in a county in which there is no statutory probate court but in which there is a 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, transfer the contested matter to the county court at law, and the same subsection lets the judge of the county court transfer the entire proceeding there. The county court at law may then hear the proceeding as if originally filed in that court, and where only the contested matter was transferred it goes back to the county court once resolved (§ 32.004(b)). There is no assignment of an outside statutory probate court judge and no transfer to a district court in a county built this way: Estates Code § 32.003, the mechanism that sends contested matters to a district court, applies only where the county has neither a statutory probate court nor a county court at law exercising original probate jurisdiction, which is not Harrison County. The practical consequence is that a Harrison County contest stays in the same courthouse, in front of a judge who is a lawyer.
The jurisdiction process
- Confirm the route and gather the documents. Collect the original signed will if there is one, a certified copy of the death certificate, the names and addresses of the people who inherit, and a list of assets and debts with values. A person named in a will to settle the estate is an executor; a person appointed by the court where there is no will, or where no named executor qualifies, is an administrator; the Texas Estates Code's umbrella term for either is personal representative.
- Draft the papers yourself or with an attorney. Texas has no comprehensive statewide set of probate procedure forms and the Harrison County Clerk publishes none of its own, so the application, the proof of death and other facts, the proposed order, the oath and the inventory are drafted documents, not fill-in forms. Style the case for the court that will hear it: Harrison County has no statutory probate court, and the county's own docket shows estates before the County Court at Law of Harrison County, with the Harrison County Court holding concurrent jurisdiction (Estates Code § 32.002(b)).
- File with the Harrison County Clerk. Estates, wills and guardianships go to the County Clerk at the Harrison County Courthouse, 200 W. Houston, Suite 143, Marshall, TX 75670, or by mail to P.O. Box 1365, Marshall, TX 75671. Attorneys must e-file through eFileTexas.gov; an unrepresented party may e-file but is not required to (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(1)). Harrison publishes no county e-filing notice of its own, so a self-represented filer should call 903-935-8403 first and ask what the counter will accept.
- Deliver the original will to the County Clerk within three business days. This is statewide and there is no electronic substitute: when a party electronically files an application to probate a document as an original will, the original will must be filed with the clerk within three business days after the application is filed (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(12)). Take or send the wet-ink original to Suite 143, or to P.O. Box 1365 if you cannot come in, and allow for the clerk's published ten-day response window on mailed requests.
- Pay the county's published fee. The Harrison County Clerk's fee schedule, headed January 1, 2026, charges $445.00 to file a probate of a will as a muniment of title (Estates Code chapter 257) or for letters testamentary, an administration, a declaration of heirship or a guardianship, $445.00 for a small estate, and $355.00 to probate a foreign will. That total carries the statewide statutory base of $360 inside it, a $223 local consolidated fee (Local Government Code § 135.102(a)(1)) plus a $137 state consolidated fee (§ 133.151(a)(1)). A filer who cannot afford the cost files a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs, the statewide form required by Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 145.
- Add the citation and service items the case needs. The county's schedule prices a personal citation in probate served by the Harrison County Sheriff's Office at $95.00, or $90.00 if the clerk serves it by certified mail, and a citation prepared after the initial filing date at $8.00. Nothing is heard until service or posting is complete and the return is on file, so build that into your timing and ask the clerk what your particular application needs.
- Let the court set the hearing. Harrison County does not publish a self-scheduling portal or a standing probate docket day. The County Court at Law posts its General Docket as a PDF, and probate settings appear on it alongside civil, family and juvenile matters; on the docket published for March 30, 2026 they sat at 9:30 a.m. and in a 2:00 p.m. block. Contact the County Clerk at 903-935-8403 or [email protected] to get your matter set, and ask the court coordinator's office about a reset.
- Attend the hearing in Marshall. The court publishes no remote-appearance rule for probate, so plan on appearing in person at 200 W. Houston. Bring the proposed order, the proposed proof of death and other facts, the proposed oath and a copy of the death certificate unless the court tells you otherwise, and dress for a courtroom.
- Collect the letters. On an admitted will the court grants Letters Testamentary to a qualifying executor (Estates Code § 306.001); where there is no will, or no named executor qualifies, it grants Letters of Administration (§ 306.002). Each set costs $2.00 (Local Government Code § 118.061), so order enough for every bank, transfer agent and title company the estate has to deal with. A will deposited with the clerk for safekeeping is $5.00 on the county's schedule, matching the statutory fee (§ 118.062).
- Administer the estate and file what the statute requires. The steps that follow, including notice to beneficiaries after an order admitting a will (§ 308.002), the published notice to creditors within one month of receiving letters (§ 308.051), notice to secured creditors within two months (§ 308.053), and the inventory, which must be filed with the court clerk before the 91st day after the personal representative qualifies unless the court grants longer (§ 309.051(a)), are set by state statute and apply the same way in every Texas county. File them with the Harrison County Clerk. Note the local sting in the tail: Harrison charges $25.00 to file an inventory and appraisement only if it comes in after the 90th day following qualification or after an extended deadline. Where the estate is being run as an independent administration, the court's involvement after the appointment order and the inventory is deliberately minimal (Estates Code chapters 401 to 405).
Forms and documents
Probate forms in Harrison County
The Harrison County Clerk publishes no probate forms. There is no county application to probate a will, no county order, no county oath, no county cover sheet and no county small estate affidavit template; the forms on the clerk's own page are assumed name, birth and death record, marriage license and marks and brands documents. Texas as a whole has no comprehensive set of probate procedure forms either: the Texas Judicial Branch forms page carries will forms, a transfer on death deed kit and civil forms in this area, and the Supreme Court of Texas has not promulgated a small estate affidavit form or a muniment of title form under Government Code § 22.020(b)(1) (Estates Code chapters 205 and 257). In practice the application, the proof of death and other facts, the proposed order, the oath and the inventory in a Harrison County estate are drafted documents.
The County Court at Law does publish three guardianship account documents, which are the closest thing to a local probate form here: a Report on the Condition of a Ward, an Annual Account and an Order Approving Annual Account. Read them before you use them. They are scanned generic templates with the county and court lines left blank, and the order's signature block reads "Judge, Probate Court No. ____", a court Harrison County does not have. Take the content and not the caption, and style your own papers for the court that is actually hearing the matter.
One further caution about local rules. The only local rules the County Court at Law publishes are its Local Rules for Family Law Matters, effective January 1, 2015, which by their own terms apply to family law cases "on file in the office of the District Clerk of Harrison County, Texas". They are not probate rules, they do not set a probate docket, and nothing in them governs an estate. Harrison County publishes no probate local rules at all, so the controlling procedure is the Estates Code and the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, plus whatever the County Clerk tells you the counter needs.
| Resource | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Harrison County Clerk fee schedule, January 1, 2026 (harrisoncountytexas.gov) | The county's own dated schedule. Page 4 is the probate list: $445.00 to file a probate of a will as a muniment of title or for letters testamentary, an administration, a declaration of heirship or a guardianship; $445.00 for a small estate; $355.00 for a foreign will; $5.00 for a will filed for safekeeping; $10.00 for a claim against an estate; $95.00 for a personal citation served by the sheriff and $90.00 by certified mail; $130.00 for a contest or other adverse action |
| Harrison County Court at Law (harrisoncountytexas.gov) | Judge Joe Black's court page: the published General Docket and future docket dates, the three guardianship account documents, the family law local rules, the qualified attorney list and the court's contact details in Suite 263 |
| Harrison County Clerk (harrisoncountytexas.gov) | The filing office: Suite 143, the P.O. box, the probate mailbox, the office hours with the Friday early close, the records search panel and the clerk's published forms for other departments |
| Texas Judicial Branch court forms (txcourts.gov) | The statewide forms that do exist, including the Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs required by Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 145, and the Supreme Court of Texas will forms. There is no statewide application, order, oath or inventory form |
Fees
Harrison County is one of the minority of Texas counties that publishes a probate fee schedule with a printed date on it. The County Clerk's schedule is headed January 1, 2026, and its fourth page, "Harrison County Clerk's probate and civil fees", prices each route and each later filing. The figures below are that schedule, read in full and verified July 2026. Confirm anything load-bearing with the County Clerk at 903-935-8403 before you pay.
| Item | Amount | Authority or source |
|---|---|---|
| Opening a probate case | $445.00 | Harrison County Clerk's fee schedule, January 1, 2026: "PROBATE ... $445.00", for filing a probate of a will (either as a muniment of title or for letters testamentary), an administration, a declaration of heirship, an application to sell property of a minor and guardianships |
| The statewide base inside that total | $360.00 | Identical in every Texas county: a $223 local consolidated fee (Local Government Code § 135.102(a)(1)) plus a $137 state consolidated fee (§ 133.151(a)(1)), the amounts enacted by S.B. 41 effective January 1, 2022 and since amended. Harrison's schedule does not itemize the probate total, so the balance above $360 is county-collected court costs the clerk does not break out |
| Small estate filing | $445.00 | Harrison County Clerk's fee schedule, January 1, 2026, which notes the figure does not include certified copies |
| Probate of a foreign will | $355.00 | Harrison County Clerk's fee schedule, January 1, 2026, again excluding certified copies. This figure is printed below the statewide base, so confirm it with the clerk before relying on it |
| Application to open a safe deposit box | $445.00 | Harrison County Clerk's fee schedule, January 1, 2026 |
| Will deposited for safekeeping | $5.00 | Harrison County Clerk's fee schedule, January 1, 2026, matching the statutory fee the county clerk must collect (Local Government Code § 118.062) |
| Personal citation in probate | $95.00 served by the sheriff, $90.00 by certified mail | Harrison County Clerk's fee schedule, January 1, 2026. A citation prepared after the initial filing date is $8.00, which matches the statutory issuing-document fee (Local Government Code § 118.059) |
| Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration | $2.00 each | The statutory per-document fee the county clerk collects (Local Government Code § 118.061). Order enough sets for every institution the estate deals with |
| Inventory and appraisement filed late | $25.00, plus $2.00 for the judge's signature | Harrison County Clerk's fee schedule, January 1, 2026, which applies the charge only after the 90th day following the personal representative's qualification or after an extended deadline. The statutory deadline is to file before the 91st day after qualifying (Estates Code § 309.051(a)) |
| Annual or final account of an estate | $25.00, plus $2.00 for the judge's signature | Harrison County Clerk's fee schedule, January 1, 2026 |
| Application for sale of real or personal property | $30.00, plus $2.00 for the judge's signature | Harrison County Clerk's fee schedule, January 1, 2026 |
| Claim against an estate | $10.00 | Harrison County Clerk's fee schedule, January 1, 2026, matching the statutory fee payable by the claimant (Local Government Code § 118.058) |
| Contest or other adverse probate action | $130.00 | Harrison County Clerk's fee schedule, January 1, 2026, for a counter claim, cross action, interpleader, intervention, third party action or contest. The statutory component of that is $120: $75 under Local Government Code § 135.102(a)(2) plus $45 under § 133.151(a)(2) |
| Certified copies | $5.00 certification plus $1.00 per page | Harrison County Clerk's fee schedule, January 1, 2026, which adds that documents to be certified are copied by a clerk's deputy only (Local Government Code § 118.060) |
| Ten-year search of criminal, probate and civil records | $5.00 per name | Harrison County Clerk's fee schedule, January 1, 2026. The request must be in writing with the fee paid in advance, plus $1.00 for each page copied and $5.00 for each certification |
| Fax or email delivery of documents | $4.00 plus $1.00 per page | Harrison County Clerk's fee schedule, January 1, 2026. A returned check costs $30.00 |
| Electronic filing charges | Set by the vendor, not by Harrison County | Filing through eFileTexas.gov carries the electronic filing service provider's own charge and any card surcharge, on top of the court costs above |
| If you cannot afford the fee | No cost | File a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs, the statewide form required by Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 145. The court must waive the electronic filing fee for a person it determines is indigent (Government Code § 72.031(f)) |
Two cautions. The $360 statutory base is fixed by statute and is the same in all 254 Texas counties, so Harrison's higher published total is county-collected court costs on top of that base, not a different filing fee; and because the schedule does not break the probate line down, the only reliable way to price an unusual filing is to ask the clerk. Second, citation and service are separate line items here, so an estate that needs personal service on several people will cost meaningfully more than the headline $445.00.
Local nuance
Harrison County-specific considerations
One county court at law, and the estates are on its docket. Harrison County has a single statutory county court, the County Court at Law of Harrison County, sitting in Marshall with Judge Joe Black in Suite 263 (Government Code § 25.1041; judge verified July 2026 from the county's own page). It shares original probate jurisdiction with the constitutional Harrison County Court under Estates Code § 32.002(b), and the county publishes no docket-assignment rule. What it does publish is a docket: the General Docket for March 30, 2026 lists six settings typed "Probate Hearing", all with county court at law cause numbers, including applications for independent letters testamentary and applications for muniment of title (Estates Code chapter 257), plus a separately docketed guardianship of an adult. Confirm your own setting rather than assuming it, but that is where estates are being heard.
A contest stays in the same courthouse. This is the single most useful legal fact about probate in a county built like Harrison. Where a county has a county court at law exercising original probate jurisdiction, a contested matter is transferred to the county court at law on the county judge's own motion or, on any party's motion, as of right, and the county judge may transfer the entire proceeding there (Estates Code § 32.004(a)). The assignment-of-a-statutory-probate-judge and transfer-to-district-court mechanism in § 32.003 does not apply in Harrison County, because that section is written for counties with neither a statutory probate court nor a county court at law. Anyone quoting you the § 32.003 route for a Harrison County estate is quoting the wrong statute.
Probate hearings share a general docket with everything else. The County Court at Law runs one docket for civil, family, juvenile and probate matters. On the March 30, 2026 docket the probate settings sat at 9:30 a.m. and in a 2:00 p.m. block, with a guardianship at 10:30 a.m., between a default judgment hearing, two debt cases, a divorce and juvenile detention hearings. Harrison publishes no standing probate day and no filing-to-hearing standard, so treat that as a single published docket and not a rule, and get your date from the County Clerk.
There is a dedicated probate mailbox, and it is better than the general line. The County Clerk publishes six departmental email addresses, one of them [email protected], and asks that you include document or case numbers in the request. It also publishes a turnaround expectation most counties leave unsaid: "Clerks have 10 days to respond to all email / mail request from customers." Build that into any plan that depends on a mailed original will or a records request.
The counter closes early on Friday. Harrison County Clerk hours are Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The county's Contact Us page advertises 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekday building hours, which is not the counter, and the clerk warns that holidays and unforeseen circumstances can affect hours and invites a call before you drive in. If you are hand delivering an original will inside the three-business-day window (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(12)), do not leave it to late Friday afternoon.
Two courthouses, and only one of them takes filings. The county's own footer prints two addresses on every page: the Harrison County Courthouse at 200 W. Houston and the Harrison County Historic Courthouse at 1 Peter Whetstone Square. The County Clerk, the County Court at Law and the District Clerk are all at 200 W. Houston; the County Judge's office is Room 314 of the Historic Courthouse, where Commissioners Court meets. For an estate, go to Suite 143 at 200 W. Houston.
Probate records are online in two halves, split at 2005. The County Clerk's records panel sends judicial records and probate filings after 2005 to an Odyssey web portal, and probate records before 2005 to a Kofile index whose own site describes Harrison County probate minutes running from the 1800s to 2005. That is a more precise coverage statement than most Texas counties publish, and it means an older estate is findable but through a different door. The Odyssey portal presented a sign-in when checked, and the Kofile documents are sold rather than given, so budget a little time and a small charge for either. Do not mistake the clerk's Self Service records site for a case search: that one indexes recorded documents, not court files.
Recent updates
| Change | What it means in Harrison County |
|---|---|
| County Clerk fee schedule dated January 1, 2026 | The current schedule carries a printed date, which most Texas county schedules do not. It prices probate at $445.00 for a will, an administration, a declaration of heirship or a guardianship, $445.00 for a small estate and $355.00 for a foreign will, and it itemizes citation, certified copy, records search and late inventory charges |
| Probate records search split at 2005 | The County Clerk's records panel now sends judicial records and probate filings after 2005 to an Odyssey web portal and probate records before 2005 to the county's Kofile index, which carries Harrison County probate minutes from the 1800s to 2005. Older estates are searchable, but through the second site |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Harrison County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | If the Marshall-area home was held with a right of survivorship or passed under a recorded transfer on death deed, it goes to the survivor outside the estate and no court is involved in the house itself. Where other assets stood in the decedent's sole name, the spouse applies through the Harrison County Clerk in Suite 143, and the matter is set on the County Court at Law's general docket. Budget $445.00 for the filing on the county's January 1, 2026 schedule, which carries the statewide $360 base inside it (Local Government Code § 135.102(a)(1) and § 133.151(a)(1)), plus any citation service at $95.00 by the sheriff or $90.00 by certified mail. If there is a will and no unpaid debt other than one secured by real estate, ask whether muniment of title fits (Estates Code chapter 257); the county charges the same $445.00 either way, and the court's own docket shows muniment applications being heard. | Asset discovery to establish how the home and the accounts are titled and what actually has to reach the court. Packet generation for the Harrison County filing, drafted for the court that hears estates here. A vetted attorney referral if title or a claim turns out to be disputed. |
| Out-of-state adult child, small estate | Most of this can be done from out of state. Attorneys must e-file through eFileTexas.gov, and an unrepresented party may e-file but is not required to (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(1)); Harrison publishes no county e-filing notice, so call 903-935-8403 or write to [email protected] before trying to file on paper, and allow for the clerk's published ten-day response window. Whether a court filing is needed at all depends on the assets and whether there is a will, and those routes are statewide. Two things still tie the case to Marshall: the original will must reach the County Clerk within three business days of the application (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(12)), and the court publishes no remote-appearance rule for probate, so plan on attending the hearing. | Asset discovery to size the estate from out of state and confirm which route fits before anyone books a flight. Packet generation so the filing is accepted the first time. Attorney referral where an in-person hearing in Marshall makes local counsel the practical answer. |
| Parent settling a predeceased child's estate, home must be sold | Selling real property means someone needs the authority document, so this goes through an administration. The parent applies through the Harrison County Clerk, pays the $445.00 filing fee and any citation service, and the matter is set on the County Court at Law's general docket, where the court appoints the personal representative and grants Letters of Administration (Estates Code § 306.002), or Letters Testamentary if there is a will (§ 306.001). Order the letters at $2.00 each (Local Government Code § 118.061), because the title company will want a recent set. The inventory follows, filed with the County Clerk before the 91st day after the representative qualifies (§ 309.051(a)); Harrison charges $25.00 if it comes in after the 90th day. A later application for sale of real or personal property is $30.00 plus $2.00 on the county's schedule. | Asset discovery for the child's accounts, insurance and real property. Packet generation for the administration and the inventory. Attorney referral where a sale, a mortgage payoff or a disagreement among heirs makes counsel worthwhile, which matters here because a contested matter is transferred to the County Court at Law (Estates Code § 32.004). |
Self-help resources
| Resource | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Harrison County Clerk (harrisoncountytexas.gov), 903-935-8403, [email protected] | The filing office for estates: the Suite 143 counter, the P.O. Box 1365 mailing address, the hours with the Friday early close, the fee schedule, the records search panel and the probate mailbox. Clerk staff can explain procedure and what the counter needs, but cannot give legal advice |
| Harrison County Court at Law (harrisoncountytexas.gov), 903-935-8406 | The court that hears estates in practice: Judge Joe Black in Suite 263, the published General Docket and future docket dates, the guardianship account documents and the court coordinators |
| Harrison County Clerk fee schedule, January 1, 2026 (harrisoncountytexas.gov) | The county's dated schedule, with the probate list on page 4: filing fees for each route, citation and service charges, certified copy prices and the written records search fee |
| Harrison County judicial records search, Odyssey web portal | The portal the County Clerk links for judicial records and, in the clerk's own words, probate filings after 2005. It presented a sign-in page when checked in July 2026, so expect a registration step |
| Harrison County QuickLink, Kofile (kofilequicklinks.com) | The clerk's index-book site for older records, which carries Harrison County probate minutes from the 1800s to 2005 alongside deed and deed of trust indexes. Documents are available for purchase, and the site offers a walkthrough, live chat and email support |
| eFileTexas.gov | Registration for the statewide electronic filing system, the list of certified electronic filing service providers, and filing instructions. This is where a Harrison County probate application is filed electronically |
| re:SearchTX (research.txcourts.gov) | The statewide court records portal, run by the Office of Court Administration with Tyler Technologies. Free registration is required, documents are charged for ($1.00 for a document of 1 to 10 pages and $0.10 per page after that, per its own FAQ), and the portal states that it provides an unofficial copy and that the clerk of the court is the official custodian. Coverage is set county by county, so confirm anything important with the Harrison County Clerk |
| Texas State Law Library probate research guide (guides.sll.texas.gov), (844) 829-2843 toll free in Texas | The strongest government self-help source for Texas probate, from a state agency: general information, probating a will, when there is no will, executors, formal administration, informal methods and legal forms. The library's own caveat is that it cannot tell you what the law means for your situation |
| Legal help guides, Texas State Law Library (guides.sll.texas.gov) | The legal aid and legal help directory the Harrison County Clerk links from its own page under helpful information |
| TexasCourtHelp.gov | General information and videos about making your way through the Texas court system, from the Texas Judicial Branch |
| TexasLawHelp.org, wills, estate planning and probate (texaslawhelp.org) | Plain-language Texas probate articles and self-help toolkits from the Texas Legal Services Center, a non-profit. The Harrison County Clerk links it by name for small estate information. It is not a court site and its materials are not court-approved forms |
| Lone Star Legal Aid, Longview office (lonestarlegal.org), (903) 758-9123 or toll free (800) 866-0821 | Free civil legal help for eligible low-income residents. The Longview office names Harrison in its own counties-served list and is at 140 East Tyler, Suite 150, Longview, TX 75601-7240, open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday with intake 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Confirm it can take a decedent's estate matter before relying on it |
| State Bar of Texas Lawyer Referral and Information Service (texasbar.com), (800) 252-9690 | Referrals to Texas attorneys, Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central, Spanish spoken. The initial consultation is capped at $20 for 30 minutes. It is a referral service, not a reduced-fee or pro bono program |
| Texas law libraries directory (guides.sll.texas.gov) | The Texas State Law Library's curated directory. It lists no law library in Harrison County; the nearest listed is the Gregg County Law Library, 101 E. Methvin, Suite 202, Longview, (903) 236-8460. The directory is curated rather than exhaustive, so contact a library directly about public access |
| Texas Estates Code (statutes.capitol.texas.gov) | The statute itself, including the court structure provisions in chapter 32, venue in chapter 33, letters in chapter 306, notices in chapter 308 and the inventory in chapter 309 |
When to hire an attorney
Plenty of uncontested Harrison County estates are handled without a lawyer, and the county's fee schedule is written for filers rather than for firms. 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, when a business or out-of-state property is involved, or when a guardianship has to run alongside the estate. Three local factors weigh in favor of an attorney more than they would in a metro county. First, Harrison County publishes no probate forms and no probate local rules, so every document is drafted from scratch. Second, probate settings share a general docket with civil, family and juvenile matters and the county publishes no standing probate day, so getting a matter set and heard is a conversation with the clerk and the court rather than a self-service booking. Third, the contested-matter route matters: if a matter becomes contested, the county judge may on the judge's own motion, and shall on any party's motion, transfer it to the County Court at Law, and may transfer the entire proceeding there (Estates Code § 32.004(a)). County Clerk staff can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Texas probate attorney serving Harrison County and the surrounding East Texas counties.
How Sunset helps
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, Harrison County real property and unclaimed property, so you know what the estate holds and which estate settlement route fits before anything is filed in Marshall.
Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the paperwork for your route, drafted for a county that publishes no probate forms of its own and styled for the court that hears estates in Harrison County, ready to file with the Harrison County Clerk in Suite 143 or through eFileTexas.gov.
Find a local probate attorney. When a matter is contested or otherwise calls for counsel, Sunset connects families to a vetted Texas probate attorney serving Harrison 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).
Frequently asked questions
Where do I file for probate in Harrison County?
With the Harrison County Clerk at the Harrison County Courthouse, 200 W. Houston, Suite 143, Marshall, TX 75670, or by mail to P.O. Box 1365, Marshall, TX 75671. The District Clerk's office, which handles civil, family, child support, property tax suits, adult felony cases and passports, does not open estates. Do not go to the Historic Courthouse at 1 Peter Whetstone Square either: that is the County Judge's office and the Commissioners Court building. File in Harrison County if the decedent lived here and had a domicile or fixed place of residence in Texas (Estates Code § 33.001(a)(1)).
Which court hears probate cases in Harrison County?
Harrison County has no statutory probate court. It has one statutory county court, the County Court at Law of Harrison County, which sits in Marshall (Government Code § 25.1041), and that court and the constitutional Harrison County Court have concurrent original jurisdiction of probate proceedings (Estates Code § 32.002(b)). In practice the estates are on the County Court at Law's docket: the General Docket the court published for March 30, 2026 lists six settings typed as probate hearings, all with county court at law cause numbers. The county publishes no docket-assignment rule, so confirm your setting with the County Clerk at 903-935-8403.
How much does it cost to file probate in Harrison County?
$445.00 to open a case, on the County Clerk's own fee schedule headed January 1, 2026. That single figure covers a probate of a will (either as a muniment of title or for letters testamentary), an administration, a declaration of heirship, an application to sell property of a minor and guardianships, and the same $445.00 applies to a small estate filing. Probating a foreign will is $355.00. Inside the total sits the statewide statutory base of $360, a $223 local consolidated fee (Local Government Code § 135.102(a)(1)) plus a $137 state consolidated fee (§ 133.151(a)(1)), which is the same in every Texas county. Citation service is extra: $95.00 by the sheriff or $90.00 by certified mail. If you cannot afford the cost, file a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 145).
Is e-filing required for probate in Harrison County?
For attorneys, yes. Attorneys must electronically file in probate cases in every Texas county, through eFileTexas.gov, and the Harrison County Clerk links the statewide system from its own page for criminal, civil, probate and guardianship filings. An unrepresented party may e-file but is not required to (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(1)). Harrison publishes no county e-filing notice and no county effective date of its own, so if you are filing without a lawyer, call the County Clerk at 903-935-8403 or write to [email protected] and ask what the office will accept.
What do I do with the original will in Harrison County?
You e-file or lodge the application with a copy of the will, then get the wet-ink original to the County Clerk. The statewide rule is that when a party electronically files an application to probate a document as an original will, the original will must be filed with the clerk within three business days after the application is filed (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(12)). Deliver it to 200 W. Houston, Suite 143, Marshall, or send it to P.O. Box 1365, Marshall, TX 75671. There is no electronic way to satisfy this, and the counter closes at 4:00 p.m. on Fridays, so do not leave the trip to the end of the week.
When are probate hearings held in Harrison County, and can I appear remotely?
Harrison County publishes no standing probate docket day and no filing-to-hearing standard. The County Court at Law posts a General Docket that mixes probate settings with civil, family and juvenile matters; on the docket published for March 30, 2026 the probate hearings sat at 9:30 a.m. and in a 2:00 p.m. block. No remote-appearance rule for probate is published by either the court or the clerk, so plan on appearing in person in Marshall and ask the County Clerk at 903-935-8403 about any exception.
Are there local probate forms in Harrison County?
No county form set for opening an estate. The Harrison County Clerk publishes no probate application, order, oath, inventory or small estate affidavit template, and Texas has no comprehensive statewide set of probate procedure forms either, so those documents are drafted. The County Court at Law does publish three guardianship account documents, a Report on the Condition of a Ward, an Annual Account and an Order Approving Annual Account, but they are generic templates with the county and court lines left blank, and the order's signature block names a probate court that Harrison County does not have, so do not copy the caption.
How do I look up a Harrison County probate case online?
Through two different doors, and the County Clerk says which is which. Judicial records and, in the clerk's own words, probate filings after 2005 are on an Odyssey web portal linked from the clerk's page; probate records before 2005 are in the county's Kofile index, whose own site describes Harrison County probate minutes running from the 1800s to 2005, with documents available for purchase. The Odyssey portal presented a sign-in page when checked in July 2026, so expect to register. Documents e-filed in a Harrison County probate case may also be reachable through the statewide re:SearchTX portal, which requires free registration, charges for documents and states that it supplies an unofficial copy and that the clerk of the court is the official custodian. If you have no cause number, the clerk will run a ten-year written search of criminal, probate and civil records for $5.00 per name, paid in advance.
What happens if someone contests the will in Harrison County?
It goes to the County Court at Law, not to a district court. Where a county has no statutory probate court but does have a 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, transfer the contested matter to the county court at law, and the judge may also transfer the entire proceeding there (Estates Code § 32.004(a)). The county court at law may hear it as if originally filed in that court, and where only the contested matter was transferred it returns to the county court once resolved (§ 32.004(b)). The route people often quote, assignment of a statutory probate court judge or transfer to a district court under § 32.003, does not apply in Harrison County.
Do I have to travel to Marshall to settle an estate in Harrison County?
For the hearing, most likely yes, because the court publishes no remote alternative for probate. The rest can largely be handled at a distance: applications can be filed electronically through eFileTexas.gov, questions go to 903-935-8403 or [email protected], and the clerk accepts mail at P.O. Box 1365, Marshall, TX 75671, with a published ten-day response window. The one other physical requirement is the original will, which must reach the County Clerk within three business days of the application (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(12)). The counter is open Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Shaped by the families we've helped
Thank you to the thousands of families who have trusted Sunset to help settle their loved ones' estates. This page is shaped by the questions they actually asked and the obstacles they actually hit — and that hard-won experience is what keeps it accurate, current, and genuinely useful to the families who come next.