Texas probate leads and inheritance data, by county.
If you are researching Texas probate leads, the public court file is only one part of the inherited-property market. USLeadList starts with death and property records, typically about five weeks after death, and generates an average of 6894 records a month across Texas.
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Texas counties
Browse 254 counties.Every Texas county has its own page. Highlighted counties currently generate the largest monthly record volume.
How inherited property moves in Texas
Verified state rules behind the county data.Probate rules matter because they determine when a public court record appears and which inherited properties never appear in an ordinary probate case.
What changes for an heir
Texas has no estate tax and no inheritance tax, the inheritance tax having been repealed effective September 1, 2015. The 10 percent appraisal cap expires on January 1 of the first tax year in which neither the owner when the limitation took effect nor that owner's spouse or surviving spouse qualifies for a Section 11.13 exemption (Tax Code 23.23(c)), and the exemptions lost are substantial, including $140,000 of appraised value exempt from school district tax under Tax Code 11.13(b). The school tax ceiling an owner aged 65 or older held under Tax Code 11.26 passes only to a surviving spouse aged 55 or older who keeps the home, never to a child. An heir property owner who occupies the house is considered the sole recipient of any exemption granted for that residence homestead (Tax Code 11.13(h)) and the sole owner for qualification (Tax Code 11.41(c)), and can apply without clear title, on a death certificate and a utility bill, because the application form may not require an heir property owner to produce a recorded instrument (Tax Code 11.43(o) and (o-1)). The squeeze lands on non occupying heirs, who lose the exemptions and the cap and pay on a full market appraisal.
Where probate records appear
The county level court exercising original probate jurisdiction, which is a statutory probate court in 12 counties, a county court at law in many mid size counties, and the constitutional county court everywhere else No free statewide trial court search. re:SearchTX is the statewide index of e-filed trial court records and sits behind a sign in. The Case Search at search.txcourts.gov is the appellate TAMES system covering the Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals and the courts of appeals, and it holds no trial court cases. Failing those, the county clerk's own online records.
Ways property can avoid ordinary probate
Transfer on death deed under Estates Code Chapter 114, in force since September 1, 2015 and effective only if recorded in the county deed records before the transferor's death. Also the Lady Bird or enhanced life estate deed, probate of a will as a muniment of title under Estates Code 257.001 where the estate owes no unpaid debt other than a lien on real estate, and the Estates Code 205.001 small estate affidavit.
Small-estate route
Small estate affidavit under Estates Code 205.001, available only where the decedent died intestate, 30 days have elapsed since death, no petition to appoint a personal representative is pending or has been granted, and estate assets excluding homestead and exempt property do not exceed $75,000, a figure set by 2017 House Bill 2271 effective September 1, 2017. Estates Code 205.008(b) keeps the affidavit from transferring real property, with one exception: under 205.006 it may pass title to the homestead where the homestead is the only real property in the estate and the affidavit is recorded in the deed records.
Timing investors should understand
Statutory floor: within one month after receiving letters the personal representative must publish notice to creditors in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the letters were issued (Estates Code 308.051), and within two months must give notice to each known secured creditor (308.053). Texas imposes no general creditor claim period; a 121 day bar applies only to an unsecured creditor the representative chooses to notify under 308.054, so an independent administration is not held open by a statewide claim window. A will may not be admitted to probate after the fourth anniversary of the testator's death unless the applicant shows they were not in default (256.003). The small estate affidavit is usable 30 days after death (205.001). No Texas judiciary source publishes a typical duration.
Texas inheritance volume
Updated monthly · September 2026 edition.Newly inherited residential properties recorded in Texas, from the same database that builds the lists. Published nationally in the Inheritance Property Index.
Biggest Texas counties by volume
Free to cite with attribution: USLeadList Inheritance Property Index, September 2026 edition. See every state and download the data.
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