Updated August 3, 2026. Quick answer: Texas has no statutory attorney fee schedule. The 5% figure quoted all over the internet is the executor’s statutory commission, not the lawyer’s fee — two different charges, under two different rules, paid to two different people. Texas attorney fees are simply “reasonable.”
What the 5% actually is
Under Tex. Estates Code §352.002, an executor or administrator is entitled to a standard commission of 5% on cash actually received plus 5% on cash actually paid out — excluding, among other things, cash on hand and 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. That is the executor’s compensation. It says nothing about what the attorney charges.
What the attorney actually charges
Reasonable compensation, with no percentage prescribed by statute. In practice Texas attorneys bill probate work hourly or as a flat fee quoted at the outset, and because most Texas probates are independent administrations with limited court supervision, the engagement letter is doing the work a fee schedule does elsewhere. Read it before signing: it is the actual governing document.
Why this matters more in Texas than almost anywhere
Independent administration is the Texas default where the will provides for it, and it is genuinely cheaper than supervised administration in most states. The risk is the opposite of the usual one: with less court oversight of fees, nobody reviews the bill unless a beneficiary objects. Where the will names an independent executor and also fixes their compensation, the will’s terms govern instead of §352.002.
What the process itself costs: Texas probate cost. Whether it can be avoided altogether: do you have to probate a will in Texas.
How the fee models compare across all 51 jurisdictions: probate cost by state, and the national picture on what a probate attorney costs.
Statutory text read at each state’s own legislature or official code publisher. General information, not legal advice; fee statutes change and a court retains the final say on what is reasonable.