Everything you need to know about time limits in Texas Inheritance disputes

Two years to contest a will

Basic rule: in Texas, a will contest generally must be filed within two years from the date the will is admitted to probate (Texas Estates Code § 256.204).

Note what that does not say. It is not two years from the death, and not two years from the date someone filed the will for probate. It is two years from the date the court admitted it. Because a will can be offered for probate up to four years after a death, the date of death often isn't the date that matters.

Texas limits on challenging a will · Statutes of limitation for contesting a will

What "admitted to probate" means

When a will is filed for probate, the clerk posts a notice at the courthouse that it has been filed. Usually that is the only notice required. The family members who inherit nothing are generally not individually notified.

After some time, usually several weeks to several months depending on how busy the court is, the judge holds a hearing. If no one has objected, the judge admits the will to probate at that hearing. That is the date the two-year clock starts.

This is why people sometimes learn about a will long after the clock started running. If you think a will may have been probated, check the county clerk's probate records now. They show the date it was admitted. How a will is probated in Texas

Contesting before the will is admitted

You don't have to wait for the will to be admitted. It is often better to object before it is admitted, when someone applies to probate it. The person offering the will then has to prove it is valid.

But the two-year period still lets you contest a will that has already been admitted.

Contesting before the will is admitted · Contesting after it has been admitted

The exceptions: forgery, fraud, and incapacity

Forgery or other fraud. A suit to cancel a will for forgery or fraud must be filed within two years after the forgery or fraud was discovered, or could have been discovered with reasonable diligence. See forgery and fraud.

Incapacity. A person who was legally incapacitated can contest within two years after the incapacity ends.

These exceptions are narrow, and they are often disputed: when someone "should have" discovered a forgery, for example. Some related deadlines keep running even when a will turns out to be forged. Will a forged will always be set aside?

Four years to probate a will

A will generally can't be admitted to probate more than four years after the death, unless the person offering it shows they were not in default in failing to offer it sooner (Estates Code § 256.003). Even then, a late will usually can't be used to appoint an executor, and people who bought property from the heirs in good faith, without knowing of the will, keep it.

Can you probate a will after four years? · The Texas Supreme Court on late wills

Where there is no will

When someone dies without a will, the court process is an application to declare heirship, where evidence is given in court about who the heirs are.

For someone who died on or after January 1, 2014, there is no time limit to start an heirship case (Estates Code § 202.0025). Before that law, there was generally a four-year limitations period. If the person died before January 1, 2014, the four-year rule may or may not apply, depending on the facts. It's more complicated, but not necessarily too late.

That matters in real situations: children born outside marriage trying to claim from a parent's or grandparent's estate, or someone contacted by an oil and gas company about a mineral interest they didn't know they had.

No deadline doesn't mean no hurry. Witnesses die, records disappear, and property gets sold to people who bought it in good faith. How heirship works

Claims against an executor or trustee

A claim for breach of fiduciary duty, against an executor, administrator, trustee, or someone acting under a power of attorney, generally must be filed within four years of when it arises. When the four years start can be disputed, which is one more reason not to wait.

The four-year limit for breach of fiduciary duty · Executor problems

Other deadlines that catch people

A court has already declared the heirs, and you were left out. An heir who wasn't properly served can generally ask the court to correct the judgment within four years of it. After that, it takes proof of actual fraud.
Other probate orders. An interested person can ask the court to revise an order for error by a bill of review, generally within two years of the order.
Appeals. An appeal from a final judgment generally must be started within 30 days, or 90 days in some cases if a timely motion for new trial is filed. In probate cases, some orders have to be appealed right away, before the whole case is over. Time limits for appealing a will contest
Before the estate closes. If property is missing from an inventory or valued too low, it is much easier to deal with while the estate is still open.

The date it starts is usually the fight

Most of these deadlines are easy to state and hard to apply: when a will was "admitted," when a forgery "should have" been discovered, when a breach "arose." Write down the dates you know, and when you first learned each thing, while you still remember them.

What to do next

Write down the date of death.
Find out whether a will was filed, and whether it was admitted. The county clerk's probate records show both dates. The admission date is the one that usually matters.
Note when you first learned of the will, or of anything that suggests forgery, fraud, or misconduct.
Check whether an heirship case or an affidavit of heirship has been filed, if there was no will.
Count forward from each date. If any deadline is close, don't wait for more information before acting.

Time limits

The short version