Texas Inheritance Laws: Who Gets What When Someone Dies

Texas inheritance laws are found mostly in the Texas Estates Code. They answer one basic question: when someone dies, who gets what they owned? The answer depends on a few things: whether there is a valid will, whether the person was married, who their children are, and how each piece of property was owned.

This page walks through each of those in order. Each section links to a fuller explanation if you want the details.

The first question: was there a valid will?

If there is a valid will, the will controls. If there isn't, the law decides. So everything starts here.

Who can make a will. A person of sound mind who is at least 18 years old, or who is or has been married, or who is serving in the armed forces.

What makes a will valid. A typical Texas will must be:

in writing,
signed by the person making it (or by someone else in their presence and at their direction), and
signed by two witnesses who are at least 14 years old, in the person's presence.

There is one big exception. A will written entirely in the person's own handwriting and signed by them is valid without witnesses. Texas courts are strict about this. See when a handwritten document is a will and contesting a will because it was not signed properly.

People can leave their property to anyone. Texas has no rule that children must receive something. A parent can leave a child out completely. See no forced heirship in Texas and how to disinherit someone.

A will doesn't do anything until a court accepts it. That court process is called probate. Until a will is admitted to probate, it generally can't be used to transfer property. If you want to read a will you've been told about, see how to get a copy of a will in Texas.

When there is no will

When there is no valid will, the property goes to the person's heirs: the relatives Texas law names, in a set order. Nobody gets to choose them, and what the family believes the person wanted doesn't change the order.

If there is no surviving spouse, the property generally goes:

to the person's children, with a child who has died being replaced by that child's own children;
if there are no children, to the parents, and to brothers and sisters if a parent has died;
if there are none of those, to more distant relatives: grandparents, then aunts, uncles, and cousins.

"No will" also covers more than people expect. It includes a will that can't be found, a will that was revoked, a will that was thrown out in a will contest, and any property a will forgot to mention.

That last one happens more often than you'd think. Most wills have a "residuary clause", a line like "I give all the rest of my property to my daughter." It catches everything the will doesn't name. Some wills leave it out. If property turns up later that the will doesn't mention, and there's no residuary clause, that property goes to the heirs as if there were no will, even though the rest of the will still stands. See what happens when a will doesn't cover all the property.

The full order, and how a court decides who the heirs are, is explained on Heirship — when there's no will. See also who are the heirs in Texas? and can parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews inherit?

Husbands and wives

A surviving spouse's share is where most of the confusion and most of the arguments come from. The answer turns on two questions.

First: was the property community property or separate property? Roughly, community property is what either spouse got during the marriage. Separate property is what a spouse owned before the marriage, or received during it as a gift or an inheritance. See the difference between community and separate property.

Second: are all of the children also the surviving spouse's children? When there is no will:

Community property. If all of the person's children are also the surviving spouse's children (or there are no children), the spouse gets all of the community property. If the person had a child from another relationship, the person's half of the community property goes to their children, and the spouse keeps only the half that was already theirs.
Separate property. If there are children, the spouse gets one-third of the personal property (money, vehicles, belongings) and the right to use one-third of the land for life. The children get the rest.

A will can change all of this for the person's own property. What a will can't do is give away the surviving spouse's half of the community property. That half already belongs to the spouse.

A common-law (informal) marriage counts, if it can be proved. After a death, it often has to be. See does a spouse inherit in Texas?, how a ring proved a common-law marriage after death, and can a husband or wife inherit after a divorce?

Children: adopted, stepchildren, and children of unmarried parents

Adopted children inherit from their adoptive parents just like biological children. See can adopted children inherit in Texas? and do adopted children inherit from their biological parents?
Stepchildren do not inherit from a stepparent who dies without a will, unless they were adopted. Texas does recognize a child who was treated as adopted but never formally adopted, which has to be proved. See adoption by estoppel.
A child of unmarried parents inherits from the mother, and from the father if paternity was established or can be proved. See inheritance rights of children of unmarried parents and newly found heirs.
Half-brothers and half-sisters inherit, but when they share with full brothers and sisters, each half-sibling receives half as much.
A child born or adopted after the will was signed may be entitled to a share in some situations. See pretermitted children.

Property that passes outside the will

Many people are surprised to learn that a will often doesn't control the biggest assets. These usually go straight to a named person, no matter what the will says:

joint accounts with a right of survivorship,
accounts marked payable on death,
life insurance and retirement accounts with a named beneficiary, and
land transferred by a transfer on death deed, or given away before the death by a gift deed.

That's why a person who "inherited nothing" under a will may still have a claim. If an account was made joint, or a deed was signed, because someone took advantage of the person, that transfer can be challenged too. See joint accounts and inheritance, challenging a joint account, payable on death designations, and gift deed vs. Lady Bird deed vs. TODD.

The family home

Texas gives special protection to the homestead. A surviving spouse generally has the right to keep living in the family home for the rest of their life, even if someone else inherits it. Minor children have a similar right while they are minors. See what is a Texas homestead? and what is a life estate?

Taxes

Texas has no inheritance tax and no state estate tax. You don't pay Texas a tax for receiving an inheritance.

The federal estate tax applies only to very large estates. In 2026 it doesn't apply unless the estate is worth more than $15 million per person. Most families will never deal with it.

Deadlines

Inheritance law has several clocks, and they run from different starting points.

The deadlines people miss most

Probating a will: generally within four years of the death. After that, it's much harder, though not always impossible. See can you probate a will after four years?

Contesting a will: generally within two years after the will is admitted to probate, not two years after the death. There are limited exceptions, such as forgery or fraud.

Declaring heirs when there's no will: for someone who died on or after January 1, 2014, there is no deadline to start. But waiting can still cost you, especially if property gets sold.

Surviving the person: to inherit, an heir generally has to outlive the person by at least 120 hours (five days). See he died days after his wife.

All of the time limits, in one place: everything you need to know about time limits.

When the family disagrees

Most inheritances pass without a fight. When there is one, it usually falls into one of these situations:

The will seems wrong. The person wasn't thinking clearly (mental capacity), someone pressured them (undue influence), the will is fake (forgery), or it wasn't signed properly. Start with the will seems wrong.
There's no will, and someone is claiming more than their share. Start with there's no will.
The executor isn't doing the job, or is keeping people in the dark. Start with executor problems.
A relative nobody knew about has turned up, or you've learned you may be one. Start with newly found heirs.

Not sure which one fits? Answer six questions and the site will point you to the right place. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.

How you actually receive an inheritance

Property doesn't move into an heir's name by itself. Depending on the situation, it usually takes one of these:

Probate with an executor or administrator, who collects the property, pays the debts, and distributes what's left.
Muniment of title, a shorter way to probate a will when there are no unpaid debts other than debts secured by real estate. No executor is appointed. See dependent vs. independent administration vs. muniment of title.
A small estate affidavit, available when there is no will and the estate, not counting the homestead and certain exempt property, is worth $75,000 or less.
A proceeding to declare heirship, when there is no will and the family needs a court order saying who the heirs are.

See how do I claim my inheritance in Texas? and who receives notice of probate?

Texas inheritance laws

The short version