Texas Estate Planning: Free Wills, Trusts & Calculators

Texas operates under community property law, one of only nine states to do so. Most assets acquired during marriage belong equally to both spouses regardless of whose name is on the title or who earned the income. This fundamental difference from common law states shapes every aspect of estate planning here, from how property passes at death to what a surviving spouse automatically inherits.

Like all states, Texas recognizes formally executed wills and living trusts as valid estate planning tools. A standard will here requires 2 adult witnesses, and adding a notarized self-proving affidavit can streamline the probate process later. The state also recognizes holographic (handwritten) wills, though these have stricter proof requirements and are more vulnerable to legal challenges.

The state adopted the Uniform Power of Attorney Act in 2017, modernizing its rules around financial powers of attorney. Documents created before 2017 may not reflect the current law's protections.

If you die without a will in Texas, your heirs must survive you by at least 120 hours to inherit anything. This "survival period" exists to prevent property from passing through multiple estates in quick succession when family members die close together in time, such as in an accident. The amount a surviving spouse inherits without a will depends on whether your parents are still alive. If they are, your spouse may have to share the estate with them—a result that surprises many people and underscores why having a will matters. When children survive, Texas gives the surviving spouse only a life estate in one-third of the deceased spouse's separate real property—the right to use it during their lifetime, but not to sell it. The remaining separate property and all community property follow different rules. This complexity is one reason Texas families often use trusts to simplify asset transfers.

Smaller estates under $75,000 can use a simplified transfer process that avoids full probate proceedings.

Texas does not impose a state estate tax or inheritance tax, which means estates are only subject to the federal estate tax (currently exempting the first $15,000,000 per person, or $30,000,000 for married couples using portability). This is a meaningful advantage over the states that layer their own death taxes on top of the federal system.

Texas allows transfer-on-death deeds for real estate, enabling property to pass directly to named beneficiaries without probate. This is a significant probate avoidance tool that doesn't require creating a trust. Transferring a home into a revocable trust does not forfeit Texas's homestead exemption—the protection carries through to trust-held property. Transferring property into a revocable trust does not trigger a property tax reassessment in Texas, so property taxes remain at their current level.

Texas provides constitutional homestead protection with no dollar limit on the home's value—only acreage limits of 10 acres in urban areas and 200 acres in rural areas. This means a home worth any amount is protected from most creditors during the owner's lifetime and passes with strong protections to surviving spouses and minor children. Executors must publish a notice to creditors, who then have 4 months to file claims against the estate.

Texas automatically revokes an ex-spouse as beneficiary on life insurance, retirement accounts, and similar designations upon divorce. However, these automatic revocations can be overridden by a divorce decree or by re-designating the ex-spouse after the divorce. Texas provides full creditor protection for inherited IRAs, meaning creditors cannot reach these funds—a protection not available in every state.

Texas authorizes remote online notarization (RON), allowing trusts, healthcare directives, powers of attorney to be notarized via video call from anywhere. However, wills are excluded from RON and still require in-person notarization.