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How much does it cost to file probate in Texas?

Opening a probate case in Texas costs $360 in clerk's fees in the large metro counties — a $223 local consolidated fee plus a $137 state consolidated fee — whether you are probating a will, seeking letters of administration, or filing a muniment of title. Dallas and Tarrant Counties both publish $360 for the new filing; smaller counties stack the same state fee on their own local charges.

Texas probate fees at a glance

The $360 total and its two components come from the Texas Judicial Branch's published county-level civil filing fee structure: a $223 local consolidated fee and a $137 state consolidated fee, charged at the filing of a new probate case. Tarrant County's January 2026 probate fee schedule lists the base new filing at exactly that $360, with $120 for subsequent filings in the same estate and $2 per certified copy of letters. Dallas County's schedule lists $360 to probate a will — including letters or a muniment of title — and the same $360 for an administration, with the itemised extras above: $8 per citation issued, $20 for a posted notice and $65 for citation by publication. Historically the schedule was built from the $40 probate original-action fee in Local Gov't Code §118.052 plus dozens of add-on fees; the consolidated structure replaced that arithmetic, which is why current schedules quote one round number. The national comparison is on the probate court costs hub and the Texas court costs guide.

Which Texas probate route you are actually buying

Texas offers more doors into probate than most states, and the clerk's fee is only the first difference. Independent administration — available when the will provides for it or all distributees agree, Estates Code ch. 401 — is the standard route: one hearing, letters issued, and the executor then works largely without court supervision. A muniment of title (ch. 257) is cheaper in total friction where the estate has no unpaid debts other than liens on real estate: the court order itself transfers title, with no administration at all, at the same $360 filing. A small estate affidavit (ch. 205) avoids a formal case entirely for estates of $75,000 or less excluding the homestead and exempt property, where the assets exceed the debts and 30 days have passed since death. And a determination of heirship (ch. 202) is required when there is no will — which is where the $600 attorney ad litem deposit in Dallas County appears, because the court must appoint an independent attorney to investigate and represent the unknown heirs. Whichever route applies, the will generally must be offered for probate within four years of death (Estates Code §256.003); after that, only a muniment of title is normally available, and only to a party not in default.

How the case runs

1. File the application to probate the will (or for letters of administration) with the county clerk in the county where the decedent lived, with the original will and a certified death certificate $360 in Dallas and Tarrant Counties
2. The clerk posts citation at the courthouse; the hearing cannot be held until the posting period has run $20 posted notice in Dallas County
3. Attend the hearing, prove up the will, take the oath, and post any required bond; the clerk issues letters testamentary or of administration $2 per certified copy of letters in Tarrant County
4. Publish the notice to creditors in a newspaper of general circulation within one month, and notify named beneficiaries within 60 days — newspaper charges are paid to the paper, not the clerk.
5. File the inventory, appraisement and list of claims within 90 days unless extended; in an independent administration that filing largely ends the court's involvement.

What probate really costs beyond the clerk

The $360 is the court's price, not the estate's. Texas executors are entitled to a statutory commission of five percent on sums the estate receives and pays out in cash, excluding funds already on hand (Estates Code §352.002), although family executors routinely waive it. Attorney fees for a straightforward independent administration are market-priced and are normally the largest single cost of a Texas probate — the clerk's schedule says nothing about them, and this page does not estimate them, because no official schedule publishes them. Two clerk-side costs do recur and are worth budgeting: the $120 subsequent-filing fee in Tarrant County whenever a later pleading opens a new matter inside the estate, and, in dependent administrations, the $25 charges for filings such as a late inventory or an annual or final account carried in the statutory fee schedule. Contested cases — will contests, contested heirships, removal actions — are charged as new filings and can multiply the court-side total quickly. For the contrast with a value-based system, see California probate costs; for a flat statutory system, see Florida probate costs.

Can't afford the fee?

An applicant who cannot pay may file a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 145, in place of the filing fee, as described in the fee waiver guide. Estates themselves are usually solvent enough to reimburse the applicant once letters issue, because administration expenses — including filing fees — are payable from estate funds before distribution.

Sources: Texas Judicial Branch — County-Level Court Civil Filing Fees (local consolidated fee $223 + state consolidated fee $137 = $360) · Tarrant County Clerk — Probate Fee Schedule, January 2026 (new filing $360; subsequent filing $120; certified letters $2) · Dallas County Clerk — Probate Fee Schedule, January 2026 (probate of will / administration $360; citation $8; posted notice $20; citation by publication $65; heirship attorney ad litem deposit $600) · Tex. Estates Code §§202, 205 ($75,000 small estate limit), 256.003 (four-year deadline), 257, 352.002, 401 · Tex. Local Gov't Code §118.052. Last verified: October 2026 — confirm current figures with your county clerk.