Last updated July 18, 2026
Texas estate planning has its own vocabulary — some terms exist nowhere else (muniment of title), some mean the opposite of what out-of-state guides assume (revocable by default), and one famous term doesn’t exist here at all (the elective share). Each definition below is anchored to the governing section of the Estates, Property, Family, or Health & Safety Code. This is general information about Texas law, not legal advice.
Community property
Property acquired by either spouse during marriage other than separate property (Tex. Fam. Code s. 3.002). Each spouse owns an undivided one-half; your will controls only your half. Property possessed by either spouse is PRESUMED community (s. 3.003).
Separate property
What a spouse owned before marriage, received during marriage by gift, devise, or descent, or recovered for personal injury except lost earnings (Tex. Fam. Code s. 3.001). Proving it takes clear and convincing evidence.
Holographic will
A will written WHOLLY in the testator's handwriting and signed — valid in Texas with no witnesses at all (Tex. Est. Code s. 251.052), and even self-provable (s. 251.107).
Self-proving affidavit
The notarized affidavit (Tex. Est. Code ss. 251.104, 251.1045) that lets a will be admitted to probate without calling the witnesses to court. Not required for validity; always recommended.
Independent administration
The Texas default in practice (Tex. Est. Code ch. 401): the executor administers the estate largely free of court supervision after the will is admitted — one sentence in the will creates it (s. 401.001).
Independent executor
The personal representative in an independent administration — empowered to act without per-transaction court approval, and able to file the affidavit in lieu of inventory (s. 309.056).
Dependent administration
Court-supervised administration: bond (ch. 305), court approval for transactions, and annual accounts. The protective, expensive fallback when no basis for independence exists.
Muniment of title
Texas's signature shortcut (Tex. Est. Code ch. 257): the will is admitted as a TITLE DOCUMENT with no executor and no administration — available when the estate owes no unpaid debts other than real-estate liens (s. 257.001).
Small estate affidavit (SEA)
The intestate shortcut (ch. 205): heirs of a qualifying estate of $75,000 or less (excluding homestead and exempt property) collect assets by judge-approved affidavit — and can transfer homestead title when it is the estate's only real property (s. 205.006).
Determination of heirship
The judicial proceeding (ch. 202) that establishes who a decedent's heirs are when there is no will — with citation and an attorney ad litem for unknown heirs. The recorded affidavit of heirship (ch. 203) is the nonjudicial cousin.
Four-year rule
A will generally must be probated within four years of death (s. 256.003); after that, muniment-of-title only, and only if the applicant was not in default.
Homestead
The constitutionally protected residence (Tex. Const. art. XVI s. 50; Prop. Code ch. 41): exempt from forced sale for most debts, limited by ACREAGE not value (10 urban / 100-200 rural acres), with a surviving spouse's occupancy right at death.
Transfer on death deed (TODD)
A revocable deed (Tex. Est. Code ch. 114) passing Texas real property at death outside probate — valid only if RECORDED before death (s. 114.055), and a will can never revoke it (s. 114.057(b)).
Lady bird deed
The common-law 'enhanced life estate' deed — a TODD alternative with similar probate-avoidance effect, historically used in Medicaid planning. Choose deliberately between it, the statutory TODD, and a trust.
Revocable living trust
A trust you control during life (revocable by DEFAULT in Texas, Prop. Code s. 112.051) that manages assets at incapacity and passes them privately at death — created by a signed writing, no witnesses (s. 112.004).
Spendthrift clause
Trust language shielding a BENEFICIARY's interest from their creditors before distribution (Prop. Code s. 112.035). It never shields a settlor who can revoke.
Pour-over will
The will that catches anything left outside your trust and 'pours' it in — plus the only place to nominate guardians for minor children and an independent executor.
Durable power of attorney
The financial authority document — signed and NOTARIZED, no witnesses (Tex. Est. Code s. 751.0021), with the statutory form at s. 752.051 and express-grant-only 'hot powers' (s. 751.031(b)).
Medical power of attorney
Names your health-care decision-maker (Tex. Health & Safety Code s. 166.164 form) — two qualifying witnesses OR a notary (s. 166.154), active only after a physician certifies incompetence.
Directive to Physicians
The Texas living will (s. 166.033 form): your treatment instructions for a terminal or irreversible condition — two qualifying witnesses (one disinterested, s. 166.003(2)) or a notary (s. 166.032).
Elective share
A common-law-state spousal protection Texas does NOT have — the community-property system (plus homestead and exempt-property rights) is the Texas answer. Texas plans are drafted around property character instead.
Intestate succession
Where property goes with no will (Tex. Est. Code ch. 201) — including the blended-family rule: the decedent's community half goes to the children, not the spouse, if any child is from outside the marriage (s. 201.003(c)).
Letters testamentary
The court-issued proof of the executor's authority (issued under ch. 306) — what banks and title companies ask to see. A muniment-of-title order replaces them for qualifying estates (s. 257.102).
Statutory probate court
Specialized probate courts existing in twelve Texas counties (Gov't Code ch. 25). Elsewhere, the county court (or a county court at law) has original probate jurisdiction (Tex. Est. Code s. 32.002).
No-contest (in terrorem) clause
A clause forfeiting a challenger's gift. ENFORCEABLE in Texas — unless the contest is brought with just cause and in good faith (Tex. Est. Code s. 254.005).
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Start your Texas Estate PlanGeneral information about Texas law, not legal advice, and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. EstateDraft is software, not a law firm.
Frequently asked questions
- What is community property in Texas?
- Property acquired by either spouse during marriage other than separate property (Tex. Fam. Code s. 3.002). Each spouse owns an undivided one-half; your will controls only your half. Property possessed by either spouse is PRESUMED community (s. 3.003).
- What is separate property in Texas?
- What a spouse owned before marriage, received during marriage by gift, devise, or descent, or recovered for personal injury except lost earnings (Tex. Fam. Code s. 3.001). Proving it takes clear and convincing evidence.
- What is holographic will in Texas?
- A will written WHOLLY in the testator's handwriting and signed — valid in Texas with no witnesses at all (Tex. Est. Code s. 251.052), and even self-provable (s. 251.107).
- What is self-proving affidavit in Texas?
- The notarized affidavit (Tex. Est. Code ss. 251.104, 251.1045) that lets a will be admitted to probate without calling the witnesses to court. Not required for validity; always recommended.
- What is independent administration in Texas?
- The Texas default in practice (Tex. Est. Code ch. 401): the executor administers the estate largely free of court supervision after the will is admitted — one sentence in the will creates it (s. 401.001).
General information about Florida law, not legal advice.