Willacy County, TX Probate Information

Before filing anything in Raymondville, 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 Willacy County has moved to mandatory electronic filing for probate cases, and a wrong route filed electronically is just as hard to unwind as one filed on paper.

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

The Willacy County Courthouse on West Main Avenue in Raymondville is the single probate filing location for the whole county. There is no branch or annex counter for estates: the County Clerk takes filings at the courthouse. The court serves every part of the county, including Raymondville, Lyford, Sebastian and the surrounding farmland.

Venue is straightforward for a Willacy County resident: you file in the county where the decedent resided, if the decedent had a domicile or fixed place of residence in Texas (Estates Code Section 33.001(a)(1)). For a decedent with no Texas domicile or fixed residence, venue depends on where the death happened and where the estate or the nearest of kin are (Section 33.001(a)(2)).

Willacy County has no statutory probate court and no county court at law, so the Willacy County Court, the constitutional county court, has original jurisdiction of probate proceedings (Estates Code Section 32.002(a)), and the elected County Judge presides.

If a matter in the proceeding becomes contested, the case does not stay with the County Judge by default. Under Estates Code Section 32.003(a), in a county with no statutory probate court and no county court at law exercising original probate jurisdiction, when a matter in a probate proceeding is contested the judge of the county court may, on the judge's own motion, or shall, on the motion of any party to the proceeding, either request the assignment of a statutory probate court judge to hear the contested matter (Government Code Section 25.0022) or transfer the contested matter to the district court, which may then hear it as if originally filed there. A party's motion for assignment of a statutory probate court judge beats a transfer if filed first (Section 32.003(b)), and the county court keeps managing the rest of the estate until the contested matter is finally resolved (Section 32.003(g)).

Willacy County has published an online probate index since 2024, which is rare for a county this size. The Clerk's own notice, effective April 4, 2024, states that the office moved its records to Local Government Solutions (LGS) Online Solutions, and that the system carries "Criminal, Civil and Probate Indexes" from 1990 to the present, in addition to land records from August 3, 1998. The FAQ posted with the notice states that searching is free, that a guest login shows index information only, and that purchasing a copy of a document image requires a registered account, carries a $0.30 transaction fee per purchase, and after five image purchases requires a subscription.

Paper filing ended in 2015, per the County Clerk's own letter. That letter, dated April 10, 2015, addressed "Dear Attorney" and signed by the then-County Clerk, reads: "Willacy County has transitioned to electronic filing for all civil cases, effective today. This mandate also includes all probate, mental and guardianship cases. We will no longer be accepting paper filings." The statewide rule still lets an unrepresented party e-file without being required to (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21(f)(1)); because the county's own letter was written to attorneys and does not address self-represented filers, a self-represented filer should call the County Clerk before assuming paper filing remains an option.

No probate fee schedule is published. The County Clerk's page links a civil fee schedule dated January 1, 2022, but the document itself was unavailable on the county's own site as of August 2026, and the county's other posted fee notices cover recording, not probate filing. Budget the statewide statutory base of $360.00 plus whatever citation and posting fees the County Clerk quotes, and confirm the total before filing.

Plenty of uncontested Willacy County estates are handled without a lawyer. Counsel earns its keep when a will or an appointment is likely to be challenged, when there is no will and the heirs have to be determined, when real property has to be sold or divided, when the estate is insolvent or a creditor is pressing, or when a business or out-of-state property is involved. Because Willacy County has required electronic filing since 2015 and publishes no probate forms, an attorney's familiarity with eFileTexas.gov can save real time, and the contested-matter route matters: if a matter becomes contested, the County Judge may on the judge's own motion, and shall on the motion of any party, request the assignment of a statutory probate court judge or transfer the contested matter to the district court (Estates Code Section 32.003(a)), a timing point that is easy to miss without counsel. County Clerk staff can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Texas probate attorney serving Willacy County and the Rio Grande Valley.

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

Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the paperwork for your route, ready to e-file with the Willacy County Clerk.

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 Willacy 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).