When probate matters are complicated or go wrong:
We handle contested probate matters, dependent administrations, and large or complex estates in Travis County and the surrounding counties.
Practice areas
Most probate work is routine, and we leave that to other firms. We take the estates that have gone wrong or grown complicated, and the ones with enough value at stake that a mistake gets expensive.
Mineral and royalty interests, family businesses, property in more than one state, and estates that owe federal estate tax.
Court-supervised administrations, where every significant act needs a court order first.
Self-dealing, failure to account, failure to distribute, and conflicts of interest.
Disputed family relationships, unknown heirs, and competing claims to the estate.
Lack of capacity, undue influence, forgery, improper execution, and revocation.
Breach of trust claims, disputed distributions, and trustee accountings.
Our practice areas page has the full list, and our probate administration page explains how an estate moves through the Travis County probate courts.
The courts
Travis County has two statutory probate courts, Probate Court No. 1 and Probate Court No. 2, under Texas Government Code Section 25.2291(c). Most Texas counties don’t have a statutory probate court at all and hear probate in the constitutional county court.
The clerk assigns your case by its cause number. Under Government Code Section 25.2293 and the courts’ local rules, odd-numbered probate, guardianship, and trust cases go to Court No. 1 and even-numbered ones go to Court No. 2, and Court No. 2 has primary responsibility for mental health matters. Once a cause number is assigned, every pleading in that case is filed under it. You don’t get to choose your judge, though the two judges can sit for each other and can transfer cases between their courts.
These courts also hear more than ordinary probate. Under Estates Code Section 32.007, they share jurisdiction with the district courts over suits by or against trustees, actions involving trusts, and certain suits involving executors and administrators. In a contested estate, a will contest, a fiduciary duty claim, and a fight over trust property can often all be decided in the probate court.
Statutory Probate Courts
Probate Court No. 1, Judge Guy Herman, is on the second floor; its associate judge is Tom Ruffner. Probate Court No. 2, Judge Nicholas Chu, is on the fourth floor; its associate judge is Emily Rickers. Filings go through the Probate Division of the Travis County Clerk.
Contested matters
Expect mediation to come up. Under Local Rule 5.1, the Travis County probate courts can refer a case to mediation on their own motion or by agreement of the parties, and any party can ask for a referral.
Treat mediation as a real chance to resolve the case, and prepare for it the way you’d prepare for a hearing.
You have a right to a jury. Texas Estates Code Section 55.002 entitles a party in a contested probate proceeding to a jury trial as in other civil actions, and capacity and undue influence are fact questions juries decide every day.
You have to ask for one, though. Under the local rules, the court won’t set a jury trial until the written jury request is filed and the jury fee is paid.
Contested cases take time. An uncontested probate is often done in a few months. A contested one goes through pleadings, discovery, depositions, mediation, and a trial setting, and it commonly runs well over a year.
Be skeptical of anyone who promises a quick result in a contested Travis County estate.
Don’t wait
A will contest generally has to be filed within two years of the date the will was admitted to probate. The clock starts at admission, not at death, and those two dates can be years apart.
The statute has two exceptions. A suit to cancel a will for forgery or other fraud can be filed within two years after the forgery or fraud was discovered, and an incapacitated person, which includes a minor, has two years from the date the disability is removed. Both are narrow, and you shouldn’t plan a case around them.
If you think you may have a contest, count two years from the date of admission and call us before you’ve made up your mind.
Service area
Estates with real property in more than one of these counties are routine for us, and they’re one of the situations where handling the estate yourself tends to get expensive. We also have offices in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, El Paso, Corpus Christi, and West Texas.
If what you need is a simple uncontested probate, a muniment of title, or a small estate affidavit, we’re not the right firm. We’ll tell you that on the first call, before you’ve paid us anything.
The first conversation is short and free. Bring what you have: the will if there is one, the date it was admitted to probate if it has been, and a short description of who’s on the other side. We meet by appointment only at 7600 Chevy Chase Drive, Chase Park, Suite 300, Austin, TX 78752.