A dependent administration is a structure you can ask the Travis County probate courts for, and when nobody trusts the person holding the keys, it’s usually the right one. The judge signs off on the major moves, and everyone with an interest gets to see them coming.
Most Texas estates run as independent administrations because they’re faster and cheaper, and in a family that gets along they work well. They work because they run on trust. The executor sells, pays and distributes without asking anyone, and the beneficiaries find out afterward.
When the trust is gone, that same design becomes the problem. A dependent administration puts the judge between the administrator and every significant act: apply, give notice, get an order, then act. Interested persons see each step before it happens and can object while an objection can still change the outcome.
Supervision protects both sides. If you’re the heir who suspects the sibling living in the house, it’s your remedy. If you’re the administrator the family has already accused of something, a signed order costs far less than defending a removal suit later.
Either way, you’ll need a lawyer, because the Travis County probate courts require one.
By court policy dated October 1, 2024, the Travis County probate courts require anyone applying for letters testamentary or letters of administration, a determination of heirship, or a guardianship to be represented by a licensed attorney. The policy explains that a personal representative acts for the beneficiaries and creditors, which is a fiduciary relationship, and that only a licensed attorney may represent the interests of others. It cites In re Guetersloh, 326 S.W.3d 737 (Tex. App.–Amarillo 2010), and Steele v. McDonald, 202 S.W.3d 926 (Tex. App.–Waco 2006).
Court approval. An independent executor doesn’t need the court’s permission for ordinary acts. A dependent administrator needs it for most significant acts, and each sale or distribution is its own application and order.
Bond. A will often waives bond for an independent executor. In a dependent administration, the court sets bond and can revisit it.
Accountings. An independent executor files no accountings as a matter of course. Someone has to demand one under Estates Code 404.001, and only after 15 months have passed since the clerk first issued letters. A dependent administrator files an annual account under Estates Code 359.001, and the court reviews it whether or not anyone complains.
Cost. Independent administration costs less because there are fewer filings and settings. Dependent administration costs more, and the court controls it. Under Estates Code 352.051, the estate pays attorney’s fees only if they’re reasonable and necessarily incurred, and the court has to be satisfied of that.
Speed. An independent administration can close fairly quickly after the inventory and notices. A supervised estate with real property and contested claims commonly runs well over a year.
Protection when the parties distrust each other. Independent administration gives you weak tools: an accounting demand and a removal suit after the fact. In a dependent administration, misconduct has to get past the judge first.
The Travis County probate courts also publish their own standards for approving attorney’s fees paid from an estate. The court applies those standards when it reviews a fee application.
The creditor process in a supervised estate is formal. Claims go to the administrator, who allows or rejects each one in writing, and the court then approves or disapproves that decision. Payment follows the statutory classes, whatever order the creditors called in.
Estates Code 355.102 classifies claims. Class 1 is funeral expenses and expenses of the last illness, in a reasonable amount approved by the court, up to $15,000 for each. Class 2 is administration expenses and the cost of preserving and managing the estate. Class 3 is secured claims for money, including tax liens, to the extent they’re paid from the property that secures them. Class 4 is confirmed delinquent child support.
This is where administrators get personally exposed. If you pay a sympathetic creditor ahead of a higher class, you can be surcharged for it. When creditors are pressing, supervision works in the administrator’s favor, because a court-approved classification answers the heir who thinks a different bill should have come first.
Expect hearings, and expect every one of them to be set. Travis County has no drop-in docket. Under Local Rule 3.1(b), every hearing is specifically set, including hearings on the uncontested dockets. When you’re back before the judge again and again, that rule drives the whole timetable.
Most calls about supervised estates are really about a house. The process has clear steps, but it looks nothing like a normal closing.
Estates Code 356.251 allows an application to sell estate property when the sale appears necessary or advisable to pay administration expenses, funeral expenses, expenses of the last illness, allowances or claims, or to dispose of an interest in real property when a sale would be advantageous to the estate. Section 356.252 requires a written application describing the property, with an exhibit verified by affidavit showing the condition of the estate, the claims, and the property remaining that is liable for them. Section 356.551 requires the successful bid or contract to be reported to the court, in writing and under oath, within 30 days after the bid is made or the property goes under contract. After that report has been on file for five days, Section 356.552 has the court inquire into the manner of the sale and hear evidence for and against it before confirming.
Travis County adds a scheduling wrinkle. Local Rule 3.1(a) lists the probate dockets as jury, uncontested guardianship, uncontested probate, sales, mental health, and a regular docket for everything else. Sales have their own docket, and under Rule 3.2(b)(2) the court sets that docket itself. Counsel can’t request a date the way other settings are obtained.
That means nobody on your side controls when the sale is heard. What you can control is filing early, filing clean, and keeping the verified exhibit in order. Build the contract around the court’s schedule and tell the buyer up front. If the real fight is over who owns the property, it belongs in a contested heirship proceeding before anyone applies to sell.
We take probate litigation, supervised administrations, and large or complex estates.
Bring the will if there is one, a list of assets, and the names of everyone likely to object. We’ll tell you whether supervision is worth what it costs in your case.
The first conversation is free, and it’s usually short.