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San Patricio County, TX Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Current rules |
|---|---|
| Court | Two county courts at law and the constitutional county court share original probate jurisdiction. Government Code § 25.2071(a) names them exactly: "the County Court at Law of San Patricio County" and "the County Court at Law No. 2 of San Patricio County", and § 25.2071(b) adds that "A county court at law sits in Sinton." Note the first court carries no number in the statute, although the county's website menu labels it County Court at Law 1. Because San Patricio County has no statutory probate court, each county court at law has the probate jurisdiction provided by general law for county courts (Government Code § 25.0003(d)) concurrently with the San Patricio County Court, the constitutional county court presided over by the elected County Judge, under the Texas Estates Code (§ 32.002(b)). The county names the judges: the Honorable Viki Hesseltine Martino presides in County Court at Law No. 2 and County Judge David Krebs presides in the County Court (verified August 2026) |
| Filing office | The San Patricio County Clerk. This is expressly settled by the county's own statute rather than left to the general rule: Government Code § 25.2072(g-1) provides that "The county clerk serves as clerk of a county court at law except in family law cases. In family law cases, including juvenile and child welfare cases, the district clerk serves as clerk of a county court at law." A decedent's estate is not a family law case, so estates, wills, heirship applications and guardianships go to the County Clerk in Room 124. The San Patricio County District Clerk, in Room 144, serves the 36th, 156th and 343rd District Courts and the county courts at law only in family law matters; estates are not opened there |
| Courthouse | San Patricio County Courthouse, 400 W. Sinton Street, Room 124, Sinton, TX 78387. County Court at Law No. 2 has its offices in the same building at Room B15 on the basement floor. The County Judge, who presides in the constitutional County Court, sits away from the courthouse at the San Patricio County Admin Annex, 1301 East Sinton Street, Suite C, Sinton, TX 78387, so check which building your setting is in before you drive |
| Mailing address | San Patricio County Clerk, P.O. Box 578, Sinton, Texas 78387, the address printed on the clerk's own fee schedule letterhead and on every probate citation the office issues. Call before mailing an original will |
| Phone | (361) 364-9350 for the San Patricio County Clerk, and the clerk publishes a phone menu in which option 1 is probate (option 9 is Spanish). The courthouse switchboard number that appears in the site footer, (361) 364-9300, is not the clerk's line. County Court at Law No. 2 publishes 361-587-3418 for court settings and technical help with an electronic hearing |
| Fax | (361) 364-9450, published by the County Clerk |
| Office hours | Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., per the County Clerk's own page (verified August 2026). No lunch closure is published for the clerk's counter. The county website footer advertises wider building hours of 8 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; the clerk's page is the authoritative one for the filing counter. The County Judge's office at the Admin Annex publishes 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is closed daily from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. |
| Filing fee | $403.00 to open a probate or guardianship case, published by the San Patricio County Clerk in a fee schedule headed "2024 FEE SCHEDULE, Effective January 1, 2024". The schedule prints its own arithmetic: "Total Local Consolidated Fee 223.00 / State Consolidated Fee 137.00 / TOTAL: 360.00", which is 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)), then "Issue Citation: LGC 118.052(3)(A) 8.00" and "Sheriff, Posting Notice: LGC 118.131 35.00". Those three lines are the county's $403.00. An action within an existing case is $120.00 |
| Local forms | A small but real set, all published by the courts and the clerk rather than by the state. County Court at Law No. 2 publishes a "REQUEST FOR COURT SETTING, PROBATE/GUARDIANSHIP" form and written "PROTOCOLS FOR ELECTRONIC APPEARANCE", plus guardianship annual account, annual report, payee report and duties documents. The County Clerk publishes the statewide Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs and a civil case information sheet. There is no county application to probate a will, no county order, no county oath and no county small estate affidavit template, and Texas has no comprehensive statewide set of probate procedure forms either, so those documents are drafted |
| E-filing | Mandatory for attorneys in probate cases, as in every Texas county, and available to everyone through eFileTexas.gov, which the County Clerk links from its own page. San Patricio County publishes no probate-specific e-filing notice and no local pro se carve-out either way. Under the statewide rule an unrepresented party may e-file but is not required to (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(1)), so if you are filing without a lawyer, call the County Clerk at (361) 364-9350, option 1, and ask what the office will accept |
| Case search | No county probate case search. The County Clerk's own statement is: "We have partnered with re:SearchTX to provide electronic access to Civil case records. The County Clerk's Office is also working to continue expanding public access to those records which pre-date the state mandate to eFile." The county's two public search portals, the official public records search covering 1983 to the present and the Kofile quick link site for land index books from 1848 to 1983, are land and official public records, not estates. re:SearchTX requires free registration, charges for documents ($1.00 for a document of 1 to 10 pages and $0.10 per page after that, per its own FAQ) and states that it provides an unofficial copy and that the clerk of the court is the official custodian. One probate-specific thing the clerk does publish is its posted probate citation file, which lists pending applications by cause number and estate |
| Remote appearance | Published by County Court at Law No. 2 only. That court publishes "SAN PATRICIO COUNTY COURT AT LAW NO. 2, PROTOCOLS FOR ELECTRONIC APPEARANCE", which set hearings by the Zoom Meetings App, require each participant to appear by video rather than by voice and to sign in under a real name, and state that "All virtual hearings in this Court are open for public viewing." Nothing on remote appearance is published for County Court at Law No. 1 or for the County Court, so ask when you request the setting |
| Website | https://www.sanpatriciocountytx.gov/page/county.clerk.home (the San Patricio County Clerk) and https://www.sanpatriciocountytx.gov/page/court_at_law2 (County Court at Law No. 2, with the probate setting request and the electronic hearing protocols). Note the county's menu link for County Court at Law No. 1, sanpatricioccal.com, redirects to a hostname that does not resolve, so that court has no reachable page; use the County Clerk |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you file anything in Sinton, 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 the first filing matters here because the San Patricio County Clerk issues a citation on the application and the sheriff posts it at the courthouse for at least ten days before the case can be called, so a wrong application is not a same-week fix.
Identify every bank and credit union account, retirement plan, brokerage holding, life insurance policy, vehicle and parcel of San Patricio 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 San Patricio County Clerk describes the estate accurately the first time.
Which court handles jurisdiction
The San Patricio County Courthouse at 400 W. Sinton Street in Sinton 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 Room 124, and County Court at Law No. 2 sits in the same building at Room B15 on the basement floor. The courts serve every part of the county, including Sinton, Portland, Aransas Pass, Mathis, Taft, Odem and the Gregory area, all of which the county names on its own pages, and the rural areas between them. Because attorneys file electronically through eFileTexas.gov, the clerk issues the citation and the sheriff posts it, most of the paperwork in an uncontested estate never requires a trip to Sinton.
Venue is straightforward for a Coastal Bend 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)). Someone who lived in Portland, Taft, Aransas Pass or Sinton belongs in San Patricio County even if they died in a hospital across the bay in Corpus Christi. For a decedent with no Texas domicile or fixed residence, venue depends on where the death happened and where the estate or the nearest of kin are (§ 33.001(a)(2)).
Which court hears the case is the fact a generic page gets wrong here. San Patricio County has no statutory probate court, so nothing in the county is a Probate Court as an institution name. Government Code § 25.2071(a) gives the county two statutory county courts, "the County Court at Law of San Patricio County" and "the County Court at Law No. 2 of San Patricio County", and § 25.2071(b) states that a county court at law sits in Sinton. Neither § 25.2071 nor § 25.2072 takes probate away from them, so the general grant applies: 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)), and in a county with a county court at law exercising original probate jurisdiction that court and the county court have concurrent original jurisdiction of probate proceedings (Estates Code § 32.002(b)). In practice both county courts at law take estates: the County Clerk's own posted probate citations from October 2025 through June 2026 carry cause numbers ending in -A, styled "County Court-At-Law, Of San Patricio County, Texas", and -B, styled "County Court-At-Law #2, Of San Patricio County, Texas", in closely comparable numbers.
If a matter in the proceeding becomes contested, the route is the county-court-at-law route, not the district-court route that applies in counties with no county court at law. Under Estates Code § 32.004, 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 judge of the county court may also transfer the entire proceeding to the county court at law. San Patricio adds a local mechanism on top of that: Government Code § 25.2072(j) lets the judge of the county court and the judge of a county court at law transfer cases to and from each other's dockets in matters within their jurisdiction, with the consent of the receiving judge unless the case is already within that court's jurisdiction, and § 25.2072(l) lets them exchange benches. The 36th, 156th and 343rd District Courts also sit in Sinton but do not open estates.
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. Most Texas estates with a will run as an independent administration, under which the court's involvement after the appointment order and the inventory is deliberately minimal (Estates Code chapter 401).
- Draft the papers yourself or with an attorney. Texas has no comprehensive statewide set of probate procedure forms, and San Patricio County publishes no application, order, oath or inventory template of its own, so those are drafted documents. The county's own posted citations show the range of applications its courts receive, including an application for probate of will and issuance of letters testamentary, an application for probate of a will as a muniment of title (Estates Code chapter 257), an application to declare heirship, an application for letters of independent administration of an intestate estate, and an application for sale of real property.
- E-file the application through eFileTexas.gov, or file at the counter in Room 124. Attorneys must e-file in probate matters, and the County Clerk links eFileTexas.gov from its own page. An unrepresented party may e-file but is not required to under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(1); San Patricio publishes no local rule either way, so call the County Clerk at (361) 364-9350, option 1, before attempting a paper filing.
- 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 the wet-ink original to the San Patricio County Clerk, 400 W. Sinton Street, Room 124, Sinton, TX 78387, or mail it to P.O. Box 578, Sinton, Texas 78387, and call first if you are mailing it.
- Pay the county's published probate fee. The San Patricio County Clerk's fee schedule, effective January 1, 2024, prices "Probate, Guardianship Cases" at $403.00, which is 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)) together with the $8.00 citation issuance fee (§ 118.052(3)(A)) and the $35.00 sheriff posting notice fee (§ 118.131) that the same schedule prints. 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, which the County Clerk publishes on its own page.
- Let the clerk issue and post the citation. The County Clerk issues the citation and the San Patricio County Sheriff posts it at the courthouse door. The clerk's own citation form says the office "shall post the copy of this citation at the courthouse door of the County in which this proceeding is pending, or at the place in or near said courthouse where public notices customarily are posted, for not less than 10 days before the return day thereof, exclusive of the date of posting", and the sheriff's return on the county's published citations records "Fee for Posting Citation: $35.00." Nothing is heard until that period has run and the return is on file.
- Get the case set. Each citation states that the application "may be acted on by the Court at any call of the docket on or after" a stated date "at 10:00 A.M. that being the first Monday next after the expiration of ten days from date of posting this citation at the San Patricio County Courthouse, 400 W. Sinton Street, Sinton, Texas." County Court at Law No. 2 also publishes its own "REQUEST FOR COURT SETTING, PROBATE/GUARDIANSHIP" form, which asks for the cause number, the style, the applicant and attorney, the type of setting, whether the matter is contested or uncontested, the estimated amount of time, and the other attorneys or parties to be notified, and which requires you to certify that a copy of the request went to all attorneys or parties of record. That court's published contacts for a setting are 361-587-3418 and the court mailbox printed on the form.
- Attend the hearing, in person in Sinton or by video where the court allows it. County Court at Law No. 2 publishes written protocols for electronic appearance through the Zoom Meetings App: each participant is expected to appear by video rather than by voice, must sign in using a real name, must be in a quiet, well-lit place and not in a moving vehicle, and waits in a virtual waiting room until the case is called, with technical help at 361-587-3418. Attorneys must appear on camera in traditional courtroom attire and other participants must dress appropriately, with hats and sunglasses removed. No remote option is published for County Court at Law No. 1 or for the County Court.
- 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). The San Patricio County Clerk's fee schedule prices Letters Testamentary and Letters of Administration at $2.00 each, matching the statutory per-document fee (Local Government Code § 118.061), so order enough sets for every bank, transfer agent and title company the estate has to deal with.
- 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 San Patricio County Clerk. The county's schedule prices an inventory at $25.00 only when it is "Filed after 90 days", so a timely inventory costs nothing at the counter.
Forms and documents
Probate forms in San Patricio County
San Patricio County publishes no application to probate a will, no proposed order, no oath, no inventory template and no small estate affidavit form. Texas as a whole has no comprehensive set of probate procedure forms either: the Texas Judicial Branch forms page carries only 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). Those documents are drafted by you or your attorney.
What the county does publish is procedural, and it is worth having before you file. County Court at Law No. 2 posts a "REQUEST FOR COURT SETTING, PROBATE/GUARDIANSHIP" form and a two-page set of written protocols for appearing at an electronic hearing, along with guardianship documents (annual account and order, annual report, payee report, a bill of rights, and duties of a guardian). The County Clerk publishes the statewide Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs, a civil case information sheet, and its posted probate citation file. Nothing published for County Court at Law No. 1 could be reached: the county's menu link for that court redirects to a hostname that does not resolve.
If you are unsure what a filing has to contain, the Texas Estates Code itself is the specification, and the Texas State Law Library's probate research guide walks through it in plain language. County Clerk staff can tell you what the counter needs and what the fee is, but cannot draft your application or tell you which route to use.
| Resource | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Request for court setting, probate and guardianship (sanpatriciocountytx.gov) | County Court at Law No. 2's own setting-request form: cause number, style, applicant, attorney, type of setting, contested or uncontested, estimated time, and the other attorneys or parties to be notified, with a certification that a copy went to all parties of record |
| Protocols for electronic appearance (sanpatriciocountytx.gov) | County Court at Law No. 2's written rules for a Zoom hearing: appear by video, sign in under your real name, dress for court, wait in the virtual waiting room, and call 361-587-3418 if you cannot connect. Virtual hearings are open for public viewing and recording them is prohibited |
| San Patricio County Clerk fee schedule, effective January 1, 2024 (sanpatriciocountytx.gov) | The clerk's own probate fee page: $403.00 to open a probate or guardianship case, $120.00 for an action within an existing case, $8.00 to issue a citation, $35.00 sheriff posting notice, $2.00 per set of letters, $5.00 to deposit a will for safekeeping, and $25.00 for an inventory filed after 90 days. The document is a scanned image, so ask the clerk if you need a line item confirmed |
| County Clerk probate citations (sanpatriciocountytx.gov) | The clerk's published file of posted probate citations, which shows each pending application by cause number, estate, court and return day. It is the closest thing San Patricio publishes to a probate docket |
| Statement of inability to afford payment of court costs (sanpatriciocountytx.gov) | The statewide fee-waiver form required by Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 145, published by the San Patricio County Clerk. The clerk must accept the filing |
| Texas Judicial Branch court forms (txcourts.gov) | The statewide forms that do exist, including the Supreme Court of Texas will forms and the fee-waiver form. There is no statewide application, order, oath or inventory form for probate |
Fees
San Patricio County publishes a real probate fee page with a printed effective date, which is unusual and useful. The schedule is headed "2024 FEE SCHEDULE, Effective January 1, 2024, San Patricio County Clerk" and its probate section prints both the headline figure and the statutory components behind it, including each of the thirteen local consolidated fee funds named in Local Government Code § 135.102(b). Note that the clerk's page labels the download as a fiscal year 2025 file while the document itself is dated effective January 1, 2024; the printed date is the one used here. The document is a scanned image, so confirm any line item that matters with the County Clerk at (361) 364-9350, option 1.
| Item | Amount | Authority or source |
|---|---|---|
| Probate or guardianship case, as published by the county | $403.00 | San Patricio County Clerk fee schedule, effective January 1, 2024. The schedule's own components add to it: the $360.00 base plus $8.00 to issue a citation plus a $35.00 sheriff posting notice |
| Statutory base included in that figure | $360.00 | 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 (§ 133.151(a)(1)). The San Patricio schedule prints the same arithmetic, "Total Local Consolidated Fee 223.00 / State Consolidated Fee 137.00 / TOTAL: 360.00", and itemises the local fee across the § 135.102(b) funds, including $35.00 to the county law library fund and $20.00 to the court-initiated guardianship fund. Those are allocations of the fee, not extra charges |
| Issue citation | $8.00 | Printed on the county schedule as "Issue Citation: LGC 118.052(3)(A)", the statutory issuing-document fee the county clerk collects. The schedule prices issuing a citation for service by a private processor at the same $8.00 per person |
| Sheriff posting notice | $35.00 | Printed on the county schedule as "Sheriff, Posting Notice: LGC 118.131", and confirmed on the sheriff's return stamped on the county's own posted probate citations, which reads "Fee for Posting Citation: $35.00". Sheriff and constable service and posting fees are set by the commissioners court, which may not set them higher than is necessary to pay the expenses of providing the service (Local Government Code § 118.131) |
| In-county service of a citation | $100.00 | San Patricio County Clerk fee schedule, listed as "Service In-County Citation LGC 118.131" and separately as "Issue Citation by Certified Mail, each person". This applies where a person has to be served rather than the notice simply posted |
| Action within an existing case | $120.00 | The county schedule prints "Actions within an Existing Case 120.00" and breaks it down as a $75.00 local fee plus a $45.00 state fee, matching Local Government Code § 135.102(a)(2) and § 133.151(a)(2) for an action other than the original application, including an adverse probate action or contest |
| Filing a contest of a will | $40.00 | San Patricio County Clerk fee schedule. The same schedule shows "Filing an Answer, No Charge" |
| Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration | $2.00 each | San Patricio County Clerk fee schedule, matching the statutory per-document fee (Local Government Code § 118.061). Order enough sets for every institution the estate deals with |
| Will deposited for safekeeping | $5.00 | San Patricio County Clerk fee schedule, matching the statutory fee for deposit and safekeeping of a will (Local Government Code § 118.062; Estates Code § 252.001(b)) |
| Inventory filed after 90 days | $25.00 | San Patricio County Clerk fee schedule, which prints the condition explicitly as "Inventories (Filed after 90 days)". This is a late-filing charge only: an inventory filed on time, or an affidavit in lieu of it, costs nothing at the counter (Local Government Code § 118.056(d)) |
| Claim against the estate and approval | $10.00 | San Patricio County Clerk fee schedule, matching the statutory fee payable by the claimant (Local Government Code § 118.058) |
| Electronic filing charges | Set by the vendor, not by San Patricio 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. San Patricio County publishes no county electronic filing fee of its own |
| 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 and published on the County Clerk's own page. The court must waive the electronic filing fee for a person it determines is indigent (Government Code § 72.031(f)) |
Two cautions. The base $360.00 is fixed by statute and is the same in all 254 Texas counties, so a total materially above it, like San Patricio's $403.00, is a total that includes citation and posting items rather than a different filing fee. And publication in a newspaper for the creditor notice (Estates Code § 308.051) and for citation by publication in an heirship matter is billed by the publisher, not by the County Clerk, so it does not appear on the county's schedule at all.
Timeline
- Day of filing: the application is filed with the San Patricio County Clerk, electronically through eFileTexas.gov or at the counter in Room 124, and the clerk issues the citation. If the application asks to probate an original will, the wet-ink original must reach the clerk within three business days of the electronic filing (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(12)).
- At least ten days of posting: the sheriff posts the citation at the courthouse door, or where public notices are customarily posted, "for not less than 10 days before the return day thereof, exclusive of the date of posting", and files a return with the clerk. The county's own citations show this happening on the day the citation issues or the next day.
- The return day: each San Patricio citation names a date on which the application "may be acted on by the Court at any call of the docket on or after" that date "at 10:00 A.M. that being the first Monday next after the expiration of ten days from date of posting." On the county's published citations from June 2026, an application posted on a Monday carried a return day two Mondays later.
- Requesting the setting: County Court at Law No. 2 asks you to file its "REQUEST FOR COURT SETTING, PROBATE/GUARDIANSHIP" form, stating whether the matter is contested or uncontested and how much time it needs, and to certify that every other attorney or party of record got a copy. The most recent court calendar the county publishes for that court is its 2024 calendar, which set probate dockets at 9:00 a.m. on designated Mondays and is marked "SUBJECT TO REVISION AS CIRCUMSTANCES REQUIRE", so confirm the current pattern with the court at 361-587-3418 rather than relying on it.
- After the order: the personal representative gives notice to beneficiaries within 60 days of an order admitting a will (Estates Code § 308.002), publishes the creditor notice within one month of receiving letters (§ 308.051), gives notice to secured creditors within two months (§ 308.053), and files the inventory, or an affidavit in lieu of it, before the 91st day after qualifying unless the court grants longer (§ 309.051(a)). San Patricio County publishes no filing-to-hearing interval or counter wait, so do not plan around one.
Local nuance
San Patricio County-specific considerations
Two county courts at law, and the statute does not number the first one. Government Code § 25.2071(a) names "the County Court at Law of San Patricio County" and "the County Court at Law No. 2 of San Patricio County". The county's website menu calls the first court County Court at Law 1, and the clerk's citations style it "County Court-At-Law, Of San Patricio County, Texas" against "County Court-At-Law #2" for the second. Both forms appear in real San Patricio paperwork, and both courts take estates: across the clerk's posted probate citations from October 2025 to June 2026, cause numbers ending -A and -B appear in closely comparable numbers. The county publishes no rule for how a new estate is assigned between them, so ask the County Clerk which court your cause number belongs to before you request a setting.
The clerkship question is settled by the county's own statute, and it does not run the way it does in the county next door. Government Code § 25.2072(g-1) provides that "The county clerk serves as clerk of a county court at law except in family law cases", with the district clerk serving only in family law, juvenile and child welfare matters. A decedent's estate is none of those, so probate goes to the San Patricio County Clerk in Room 124, and the office's own posted citations confirm the practice by directing every objection, intervention or response "in writing with the County Clerk of San Patricio County, Texas". The District Clerk is down the hall in Room 144 and serves the 36th, 156th and 343rd District Courts; estates are not opened there.
The county publishes its posted probate citations, which is rare. The County Clerk maintains a downloadable file of the citations it has issued and the sheriff has posted, each showing the estate, the cause number, the court, the type of application, the return day and the sheriff's return. If you are trying to find out whether an application has already been filed on an estate, or what a San Patricio application actually looks like, that file is the most useful public document the county produces. It is not a case search: it is a list of posted citations, published as one long file rather than as a searchable index.
County Court at Law No. 2 runs a written setting-and-appearance practice. It publishes a "REQUEST FOR COURT SETTING, PROBATE/GUARDIANSHIP" form that asks whether the matter is contested or uncontested and how long it will take, and requires a certification that every other attorney or party of record has a copy. It also publishes protocols for electronic appearance by Zoom that are stricter than most: appear by video and not merely by voice, sign in using your real name (a pseudonym may get you excluded or moved to the end of the docket), no participation from a moving vehicle or a crowded public place, witnesses wait in the virtual waiting room, and no recording of any kind. The court's published number for a setting or a connection problem is 361-587-3418.
The buildings are not all the same building. The County Clerk's filing counter is at the courthouse, 400 W. Sinton Street, Room 124, and County Court at Law No. 2 is in Room B15 in the basement of the same building. The County Judge, who presides in the constitutional County Court, sits at the San Patricio County Admin Annex at 1301 East Sinton Street, Suite C, and that office closes daily from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Check which court and which building your setting names.
County Court at Law No. 1 has no working website. The county's menu links sanpatricioccal.com for that court, and the address redirects to a hostname that does not resolve, so nothing about that court's own practice is published anywhere reachable. Treat the County Clerk at (361) 364-9350, option 1, as the source of truth for anything about a case docketed there, and do not assume County Court at Law No. 2's published forms and Zoom protocols apply to it.
Recent updates
| Change | What it means in San Patricio County |
|---|---|
| A second county court at law, effective January 1, 2023 | Government Code § 25.2071 was amended by Acts 2021, 87th Legislature, Regular Session, Chapter 934 (H.B. 3774), Section 2.09(a), effective January 1, 2023, and now lists two statutory county courts for San Patricio County: the County Court at Law of San Patricio County and the County Court at Law No. 2 of San Patricio County. Both share original probate jurisdiction with the constitutional county court (Estates Code § 32.002(b)), and the County Clerk's posted citations show estates docketed in both |
| County Clerk fee schedule effective January 1, 2024 | The San Patricio County Clerk's current published schedule prices a probate or guardianship case at $403.00 and prints its components, including the $360 statutory base (Local Government Code § 135.102(a)(1) and § 133.151(a)(1)), the $8.00 citation and the $35.00 sheriff posting notice. The clerk's web page labels the download as a fiscal year 2025 file, but the document itself carries the January 1, 2024 date |
| The county's website moved to sanpatriciocountytx.gov | Older links to co.san-patricio.tx.us still resolve but land on the county homepage rather than the page you asked for, which is easy to miss because nothing errors. The County Clerk's live page is at sanpatriciocountytx.gov. The county's own menu link for County Court at Law No. 1 points at sanpatricioccal.com, which redirects to a hostname that does not resolve, so that court has no reachable page and the County Clerk is the place to ask |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in San Patricio County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | If the Portland or Sinton 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 San Patricio County Clerk in Room 124, the case is docketed in one of the two county courts at law or in the County Court (Estates Code § 32.002(b)), the clerk issues a citation and the sheriff posts it for at least ten days, and the application can be called on the return day the citation names. Budget the county's published $403.00, which is the $360 statutory base (Local Government Code § 135.102(a)(1) and § 133.151(a)(1)) plus the $8.00 citation and $35.00 posting items. The wet-ink original will must reach the clerk within three business days of an electronic filing (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(12)). | Asset discovery to establish how the home and the accounts are titled and what actually has to reach the court. Packet generation for the San Patricio County filing, including the court's own setting request. 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 a distance. Attorneys must e-file through eFileTexas.gov, and an unrepresented party may e-file but is not required to under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(1); San Patricio publishes no local rule either way, so call the County Clerk at (361) 364-9350, option 1, before filing on paper. 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 Sinton: an original will has to reach the County Clerk in person or by mail within three business days of the application (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(12)), and the hearing is set at the courthouse, though County Court at Law No. 2 publishes protocols for appearing by Zoom. | 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 setting in Sinton 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 San Patricio County Clerk, the clerk issues the citation and the sheriff posts it (the $35.00 posting notice on the county's own schedule), and at the setting 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 letters at $2.00 each, 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)), at no clerk fee if it is on time. A later application for sale of real property is priced at $25.00 on the county's schedule, and the county's posted citations show such applications being cited and posted the same way. | 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 more here because a contested matter can be transferred to a county court at law (Estates Code § 32.004). |
Self-help resources
| Resource | What it offers |
|---|---|
| San Patricio County Clerk (sanpatriciocountytx.gov), (361) 364-9350, option 1 for probate | The filing office for estates in San Patricio County: the Room 124 address, the P.O. Box 578 mailing address, the 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. hours, the fax number, the fee schedule, the e-filing link and the county's records searches. Clerk staff can explain procedure and what the counter needs, but cannot give legal advice |
| San Patricio County Court at Law No. 2 (sanpatriciocountytx.gov), 361-587-3418 | The one San Patricio court that publishes its probate practice: the request for court setting, the written protocols for an electronic hearing by Zoom, guardianship documents and the court's staff directory. Its offices are at Room B15 in the courthouse basement |
| County Clerk probate citations (sanpatriciocountytx.gov) | The clerk's published file of posted probate citations, showing pending applications by estate, cause number, court, application type and return day. Useful for checking whether an application has already been filed and for seeing what a San Patricio citation says |
| San Patricio County Clerk fee schedule, effective January 1, 2024 (sanpatriciocountytx.gov) | The county's own probate fee page, including the $403.00 figure for opening a probate or guardianship case and its statutory components. It is a scanned document, so confirm any figure that matters with the clerk |
| eFileTexas.gov | Registration for the statewide electronic filing system, the list of certified electronic filing service providers, and filing instructions. This is where a San Patricio County probate application is e-filed, and the County Clerk links it from its own page |
| re:SearchTX (research.txcourts.gov) | The statewide court records portal, run by the Office of Court Administration with Tyler Technologies, which the San Patricio County Clerk says it has partnered with for electronic access to civil case records. Free registration is required, documents are charged for, 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 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 |
| TexasCourtHelp.gov | General information and videos about making your way through the Texas court system. The San Patricio County Clerk links this site from its own page as help with legal problems |
| 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. Useful for orientation; it is not a court site and its materials are not court-approved forms |
| Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (trla.org), (956) 996-8752 or toll free (833) 329-8752 | Free civil legal help for eligible low-income residents. TRLA names San Patricio in its own 68-county service list, and its phone line is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central. TRLA's own offices page lists an office in Sinton itself, at 113 E. Sinton St., Sinton, TX 78387; apply by phone rather than walking in. 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 of law libraries. It lists no law library in San Patricio County; the nearest listed is the Honorable Noah O. Kennedy, Jr. Law Library at 901 Leopard Street, Room 601, Corpus Christi, (361) 888-0343. 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 San Patricio County estates are handled without a lawyer, and the county's counter staff are used to self-represented filers. 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. First, San Patricio publishes no application, order or oath template, so every substantive document is drafted from scratch. Second, the county has two county courts at law plus the County Court with concurrent probate jurisdiction and no published rule for which one gets a new case, and only one of the three publishes its setting and appearance practice. Third, the contested-matter route matters: if a matter becomes contested, the judge of the county court may on the judge's own motion, and shall on the motion of any party, transfer the contested matter to a county court at law, and may transfer the entire proceeding there (Estates Code § 32.004), and the county's own statute adds a further transfer and bench-exchange mechanism between those courts (Government Code § 25.2072(j) and (l)). San Patricio County Clerk staff can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Texas probate attorney serving San Patricio County and the Coastal Bend.
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, San Patricio County real property and unclaimed property, so you know what the estate holds and which estate settlement route fits before anything is filed in Sinton.
Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the paperwork for your route, ready to file with the San Patricio County Clerk in Room 124 or to e-file through eFileTexas.gov, including the setting request the county's court asks for.
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 San Patricio 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 San Patricio County?
With the San Patricio County Clerk at the San Patricio County Courthouse, 400 W. Sinton Street, Room 124, Sinton, TX 78387, or by mail to P.O. Box 578, Sinton, Texas 78387. The case is heard by one of the county's two county courts at law or by the San Patricio County Court, the constitutional county court, which share original probate jurisdiction (Estates Code § 32.002(b)). The county clerk, not the district clerk, is the clerk of the county courts at law in everything except family law cases (Government Code § 25.2072(g-1)). File in San Patricio County if the decedent lived here and had a domicile or fixed place of residence in Texas (§ 33.001(a)(1)).
Which court will my San Patricio County probate case be in?
One of three: the County Court at Law of San Patricio County, the County Court at Law No. 2 of San Patricio County (Government Code § 25.2071(a)), or the San Patricio County Court. All three have original probate jurisdiction, the two county courts at law by general law (Government Code § 25.0003(d)) concurrently with the county court (Estates Code § 32.002(b)). The county publishes no assignment rule, but its posted citations show estates docketed in both county courts at law in closely comparable numbers, with cause numbers ending -A for the first court and -B for County Court at Law No. 2. Ask the County Clerk at (361) 364-9350, option 1, which court your cause number is in.
How much does it cost to file probate in San Patricio County?
$403.00, published by the San Patricio County Clerk in a fee schedule effective January 1, 2024 as the charge for a probate or guardianship case. That figure is the statewide statutory base of $360, made up of a $223 local consolidated fee (Local Government Code § 135.102(a)(1)) and a $137 state consolidated fee (§ 133.151(a)(1)), plus the county's $8.00 citation issuance fee and $35.00 sheriff posting notice, all three of which the same schedule prints. An action within an existing case is $120.00 and a will contest is $40.00. Letters cost $2.00 per set. If you cannot afford the cost, file a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 145), which the clerk publishes on its own page.
Is e-filing required for probate in San Patricio County?
For attorneys, yes, as in every Texas county, and filing goes through eFileTexas.gov, which the County Clerk links from its own page. San Patricio County publishes no probate-specific e-filing notice and no local exception for self-represented filers. Under the statewide rule an unrepresented party may e-file but is not required to (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(1)), so if you are filing without a lawyer, call the County Clerk at (361) 364-9350, option 1, and ask what the office will accept.
How does a probate case get set for hearing in San Patricio County?
The County Clerk issues a citation on the application and the sheriff posts it at the courthouse for at least ten days. Each citation names the return day in the same words: the application may be acted on at any call of the docket on or after that date at 10:00 A.M., "that being the first Monday next after the expiration of ten days from date of posting." County Court at Law No. 2 also publishes a request for court setting form for probate and guardianship, which asks whether the matter is contested or uncontested and how long it needs, and its phone for settings is 361-587-3418. San Patricio publishes no filing-to-hearing interval, so ask rather than assume one.
Can I appear by video for a San Patricio County probate hearing?
County Court at Law No. 2 publishes written protocols for electronic appearance through the Zoom Meetings App: you must appear by video rather than by voice, sign in using your real name, be in a quiet well-lit place and not in a moving vehicle or a crowded public place, and wait in the virtual waiting room until your case is called, with technical help at 361-587-3418. Attorneys appear on camera in courtroom attire. Virtual hearings in that court are open for public viewing and recording them is prohibited. Nothing on remote appearance is published for County Court at Law No. 1 or for the County Court, so confirm when you request the setting.
Are there local probate forms in San Patricio County?
There is no county application to probate a will, no county order, no county oath and no county small estate affidavit template, and Texas has no comprehensive statewide set of probate procedure forms either, so those are drafted documents. What San Patricio does publish is procedural: County Court at Law No. 2's request for court setting for probate and guardianship, its protocols for electronic appearance, and its guardianship annual account, annual report, payee report and duties documents, plus the County Clerk's copy of the statewide Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs.
How do I look up a San Patricio County probate case online?
San Patricio County publishes no online probate case search. Its two public search portals cover official public records from 1983 to the present and land index books from 1848 to 1983, which are deeds and recorded instruments, not estates. The County Clerk's own statement is that it has partnered with re:SearchTX for electronic access to civil case records and is working to expand access to records predating the e-filing mandate. re:SearchTX requires free registration, charges for documents, and states that it supplies an unofficial copy and that the clerk is the official custodian. The county does publish its posted probate citations as a downloadable file, which lists pending applications by estate and cause number. For anything definitive, call the County Clerk at (361) 364-9350, option 1.
What happens if someone contests the will in San Patricio County?
Because San Patricio has county courts at law exercising original probate jurisdiction, the contested-matter route runs to them and not to a district court. Under Estates Code § 32.004, 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. The county's own statute adds a further mechanism: the judge of the county court and the judge of a county court at law may transfer cases to and from each other's dockets in matters within their jurisdiction (Government Code § 25.2072(j)) and may exchange benches (§ 25.2072(l)). The County Clerk's fee schedule prices filing a contest of a will at $40.00 and an action within an existing case at $120.00.
Do I have to travel to Sinton to settle an estate in San Patricio County?
Less than you might expect, but not never. Applications are e-filed through eFileTexas.gov, the clerk issues and posts the citation without you, and County Court at Law No. 2 publishes protocols for appearing at a hearing by Zoom. Two things are physical: an original will must reach the County Clerk within three business days of the application (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(12)), delivered to 400 W. Sinton Street, Room 124 or mailed to P.O. Box 578, Sinton, Texas 78387, with no electronic substitute; and any court that does not offer a remote setting will expect you at the courthouse. The clerk's counter is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 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.