Updated September 17, 2026. Quick answer: in Texas, an estate can use small estate affidavit (personal property only, $75,000 cap) or, as Texas’s distinctive alternative, probate of a valid will as muniment of title (no dollar cap, available when the estate owes no unpaid debt other than one secured by a lien on real estate) when the qualifying value is $75,000 or less (statutory base; see below). Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in Texas in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth.
What this guide covers
Whether probate is required in Texas turns on two questions: does the estate qualify for a small-estate shortcut, and does that shortcut reach whatever real property is involved. This page answers both for Texas, with the statute cited, and then covers what full probate costs if the shortcut does not apply.
The affidavit route, and its limit
Texas’s route: small estate affidavit (personal property only, $75,000 cap) or, as Texas’s distinctive alternative, probate of a valid will as muniment of title (no dollar cap, available when the estate owes no unpaid debt other than one secured by a lien on real estate), under Tex. Est. Code §§ 205.001-205.009 (small estate affidavit; $75,000 figure at § 205.001(3), last amended by Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 844 (H.B. 2271), Sec. 12, eff. September 1, 2017); Tex. Est. Code §§ 257.001, 257.054, 257.102 (probate of will as muniment of title).
Two separate routes avoid a full administration in Texas. (1) The small estate affidavit (Estates Code § 205.001) is available only on intestacy: the estate assets, excluding homestead and exempt property, must exceed known liabilities but not exceed $75,000, with 30 days elapsed since death and no personal representative pending or appointed. This $75,000 figure was last set by Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 844 (H.B. 2271), Sec. 12, eff. September 1, 2017; the official codified text read fresh this session carries no later amendment to this subsection. (2) Texas’s distinctive alternative, and the one that can reach real property, is probate of a valid will as muniment of title (Estates Code Ch. 257): no dollar cap at all, available when the court is satisfied ‘the testator’s estate does not owe an unpaid debt, other than any debt secured by a lien on real estate,’ or finds no other necessity for administration.
“the value of the estate assets on the date of the affidavit described by Subdivision (4), excluding homestead and exempt property, does not exceed $75,000”
Source: Tex. Est. Code §§ 205.001-205.009 (small estate affidavit; $75,000 figure at § 205.001(3), last amended by Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 844 (H.B. 2271), Sec. 12, eff. September 1, 2017); Tex. Est. Code §§ 257.001, 257.054, 257.102 (probate of will as muniment of title)
The real-estate problem
What the text says: the route does NOT reach real property.
“Except as provided by Section 205.006, this chapter does not transfer title to real property.”
Source: Tex. Est. Code §§ 205.001-205.009 (small estate affidavit; $75,000 figure at § 205.001(3), last amended by Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 844 (H.B. 2271), Sec. 12, eff. September 1, 2017); Tex. Est. Code §§ 257.001, 257.054, 257.102 (probate of will as muniment of title)
The narrow exception is Section 205.006: if the decedent’s homestead is the ONLY real property in the estate, title to it may pass under the same affidavit, recorded in the county deed records. Any estate with other real property, or a homestead plus other real property, needs a different route; commonly Texas’s own muniment-of-title procedure (Estates Code Ch. 257) when there is a valid will and no unsecured non-realty debt, since a muniment-of-title order carries its own legal authority to transfer real property without administration.
What probate costs in Texas if it is required
Texas’s probate fees and attorney-compensation rules are their own topic, worked through in full on Texas probate cost.
The order to work through it
List what Texas residents typically own and how each item is titled. Remove everything with a living named beneficiary, a surviving joint owner, or a trust already holding it. If what remains is $75,000 or less, small estate affidavit (personal property only, $75,000 cap) or, as Texas’s distinctive alternative, probate of a valid will as muniment of title (no dollar cap, available when the estate owes no unpaid debt other than one secured by a lien on real estate) is the route to look at. If real property remains in sole name, plan on an administration for the real property regardless.
The general rule: when probate is required. Thresholds elsewhere: small estate limits by state. Texas’s own small-estate mechanics: Texas small estate affidavit.
Statutory text read at Texas’s own legislature or official code publisher. General information, not legal advice; fee statutes and thresholds change and a court retains the final say on what qualifies.
| Tex. Est. Code Ch. 205 (small estate affidavit) |
| Tex. Est. Code Ch. 257 (muniment of title) |
If a trust fits your situation in Texas
In Texas a house in sole name does not pass by the small-estate route, so an estate that includes one is heading for probate whatever the number is; a funded revocable living trust is the instrument that avoids it, and LawDepot builds a state-specific one.
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General information drawn from state statutes and official court materials, not legal advice. Whether probate is required is STATE law and differs in every state; thresholds, what the small-estate route reaches, and probate costs all change, and every figure here is sourced and dated. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice.