Texas Probate Cost 2026: Fees, Filing Fee, and the Small-Estate Route

Updated August 19, 2026. Quick answer: Texas fixes one half of the bill by statute and leaves the other to the court: the executor’s standard compensation is statutory — 5% of cash actually received plus 5% of cash actually paid out, capped in aggregate at 5% of the gross value of the estate subject to administration (Tex. Estates Code §352.002) — while attorney fees are reasonable. The second number is the small-estate threshold, at or under which an estate skips most of probate: $75,000, excluding homestead and exempt property, by small-estate affidavit. Whether any of that reaches a solely owned house is answered below — it is where most published guidance goes wrong.

What probate costs in Texas

Why Texas has no single answer

Texas does not publish a percentage schedule that produces one number, so any source quoting you a firm figure is estimating. What the statute actually fixes is the standard: Executor/administrator standard compensation is statutory (Tex. Estates Code §352.002): 5% commission on cash actually received plus 5% on cash actually paid out (excluding e.g. cash on hand/bank deposits at death and distributions to heirs), capped in aggregate at 5% of the gross fair market value of the estate subject to administration. Attorney fees are reasonable. Note: most Texas probates are independent administrations where compensation is often governed by the will. Verified. That makes three things decide the bill — how many billable hours the administration takes, whether any beneficiary contests, and whether the estate qualifies for the small-estate route below and skips most of it. Get the fee basis in writing before engaging anyone.

For states that DO publish a schedule, and to compare, use the probate cost calculator.

What is the small estate limit in Texas?

$75,000 (excluding homestead and exempt property) — small estate affidavit (Tex. Estates Code §205.001); intestate only, 30-day wait. Muniment of title (ch. 257) offers a no-administration alternative with no dollar cap.

Texas does answer this, and narrowly. Under Tex. Estates Code §205.006, if the decedent’s homestead is the only real property in the estate, title to it can pass under the small estate affidavit, and that affidavit must be recorded in the deed records of a county where the homestead is located. If the estate holds any other real property, the affidavit does not reach it.

Full thresholds for every state: small-estate limits by state.

If the estate is still being planned rather than settled, the usual way to keep a house out of probate entirely is a living trust, which carries its own upfront cost: whether a living trust is worth it in Texas.

Does a house have to go through probate in Texas?

Not always — and Texas is more specific than most states about when. If the house is the homestead and it is the only real property in the estate, Tex. Estates Code §205.006 lets title pass under the small estate affidavit once the affidavit is recorded in the county deed records. Any other real property in the estate puts the house outside that route, and the time to sort that out is while the owner is alive and has options, not while an estate is being administered. A fiduciary advisor can price the exposure alongside the rest of the estate picture. talk to someone about the whole estate picture. You can also run the numbers yourself first with the probate cost calculator — no email required.

How Texas compares to the other 50

Texas’s small-estate threshold of $75,000 ranks 21 of 49 jurisdictions with a stated figure, and sits close to the national median of $75,000. The range runs from $15,000 at the bottom to $400,000 at the top, so where an estate falls relative to the line matters far more than any national “average probate cost” figure. On fee model, Texas is one of 14 of 51 jurisdictions using the hybrid approach.

Death taxes in Texas, separately

Texas levies neither an estate tax nor an inheritance tax, which is true of 34 jurisdictions. That is a different question from probate cost and is decided by different statutes, but families routinely conflate the two.

What this does not include

The figures above are the probate cost — the court and compensation side of settling an estate. They are separate from any state estate tax or inheritance tax, which are taxes on the transfer itself and are owed whether or not the estate goes through probate. Appraisal, bond premium, publication, and real-estate commissions if property is sold are additional and are not set by the fee statute.

Before you hire anyone

• Ask which statute the fee is charged under, and get the citation. In Texas the governing provisions are below.
• Ask whether the quoted fee is calculated on gross value or net of debts. Gross-value states charge on the full house value even if a mortgage covers most of it.
• Ask whether the personal representative is also claiming compensation, and on what basis.
• Ask in writing whether the estate qualifies for the small-estate route, and if a solely owned house is involved, whether that route reaches it.

Primary sources

• Tex. Estates Code §352.002
• Tex. Estates Code §205.001
• Tex. Estates Code ch. 257

Texas in the rest of the picture

Probate cost is one of four things Texas decides for a retiree and their heirs. The other three — income tax on withdrawals, estate tax, and inheritance tax — are priced separately:

• Every tax Texas charges a retiree: Texas retirement taxes
• What arriving here is worth: retiring to Texas
• Corridor comparison: California To Texas
• Corridor comparison: Colorado To Texas
• Corridor comparison: Hawaii To Texas
• Corridor comparison: Illinois To Texas

Compare and calculate

Probate cost by state compares all 51 jurisdictions side by side. The probate cost calculator prices a specific estate. If a move is on the table, retirement tax relocation prices probate alongside the three other taxes that change with residency.

Cite or share this guide: “Texas Probate Cost (2026),” statute-cited; clearmoneyguide.com/texas-probate-cost/. Free to cite with attribution.