The Cost Of Probate As An Independent Administration In Texas

In this series of blogs, I am outlining various types of probates or probate alternatives to settle an estate and their likely costs in the state of Texas.

As I mentioned in the introduction to this series, the cost is predominantly determined by the type of procedure followed. In Part One, I discussed probate as a muniment of title, which is usually the least expensive procedure. Many times, that type of probate is not appropriate, though, and an independent administration is required.

What Is An Independent Administration?

An independent administration is the form of probate to be used when a Will contains the proper legal provisions authorizing the independent administration of the estate. This means you can avoid extensive court supervision of the handling of the estate once the Will has been admitted to probate. This procedure will need to be used to settle an estate with a Will where the muniment of title approach cannot be used because of outstanding debts of the estate, other than real estate liens.

Every well-drawn Will should include these provisions for independent administration. This is a key reason to have an attorney draft your Will rather than attempting to do it yourself.

An independent administration provides the process for an executor to gather together assets of the estate, address outstanding debts of the estate, and distribute them to the beneficiaries named in the Will. The executor will be issued letters testamentary by the probate clerk, attesting to the executor's legal authority to perform these actions. Most third parties the executor deals with will require a copy of the letters testamentary.

Steps In An Independent Administration

• The application for probate of the Will as an independent administration and request for letters testamentary is filed with the county clerk, in the county where the decedent lived.
  
  
• A citation is issued and posted at the courthouse as required by law.
  
  
• After the citation has been posted for at least ten days, the case will be set for a hearing before the county judge. If requirements for the probate are met, the judge will sign an order admitting the will to probate and authorizing the issuance of the letters testamentary to the executor(s).
  
  
• The clerk will then issue the letters testamentary to the executor(s).
  
  
• In some situations, a notice to creditors must then be published in the newspaper of general circulation in the county where the probate occurred.
  
  
• Secured creditors (those holding liens on property) must be sent notice of the probate by certified mail, return receipt requested. Sometimes it is also wise to send notice by the same type of mail to unsecured creditors, as this sets a deadline for them to file claims against the estate. This is discretionary, not mandatory.
  
  
• A notice that the Will has been admitted to probate must be sent to all the beneficiaries under the Will, unless they have waived notice.
  
  
• The executor is required to file an inventory and appraisement of the estate with the court, or file an affidavit in lieu of filing the inventory and appraisement, which indicates the beneficiaries have received a copy of it and approved it. The inventory and appraisement is a listing of the assets and a statement of the value of those assets. Many times, the estate can avoid having this filed as a public record with the probate court by securing the approval of the beneficiaries. Beneficiaries appreciate that information not being made public, as it avoids unwanted calls from realtors or other persons wanting to sell assets of the estate.
  
  
• If creditors' claims have been filed against the estate, the executor must determine whether the claims should be paid or not, and in what order. This can be a very complicated procedure, outlined by specific estate code provisions classifying the type of debt, and it will increase the attorney's fees.
  
  
• After valid claims have been paid and any allowances made to a surviving spouse or minor children (which again can be a complicated and expensive procedure), the executor distributes the estate to the beneficiaries.
  
  

This is a simple outline of the procedure. In any given case, there may be much more involved in settling the estate.

Cost Of An Independent Administration

As you can see, even this “independent administration” procedure involves many steps, filing fees, and costs. It is substantially more expensive than probate as a muniment of title. It isn't easy, even to give a client a ballpark opening estimate of the cost without knowing a great deal about the estate. The numbers provided below are general estimates.

The attorney’s fee for an independent administration will likely start at $1,500 to $2,000 and range upwards depending on how many beneficiaries are involved, attorney travel time, how lengthy and complicated the inventory and appraisement of the estate is, whether dealing with claims against the estate and setting aside allowances to a surviving spouse and minor children are involved, whether beneficiaries cooperate in the process, and many other factors.

The filing fee is usually about $475, and the cost of the publication of the notice to creditors varies widely depending on the city where the newspaper is located, from less than $100 to several hundred dollars. Your costs will be even higher if you need to incur other fees for obtaining and filing certified copies of the probate documents in counties other than where the probate occurred. Other costs, such as certified mail to beneficiaries or creditors, and incidentals, can further add to the cost.

Probate for each state is different. Get an attorney in the decedent's home state. If you would like to talk more about probate or administration of an estate in Texas, please call Adair M. Buckner for a free initial consultation.*

Get a Free Consultation

*(The free consultation does not cover actual review of documents or giving legal advice on a specific situation.)

** Please remember that the cost estimates given are only general, ballpark numbers for the Amarillo area and the costs can vary widely depending on many variables in your individual situation.

*** This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, specific tax, legal, or accounting advice. We can only give specific advice upon consulting directly with you and reviewing your exact situation.