Bypassing Probate in TX Using an Affidavit of Heirship – Looking for Insights & Docs

[Dylan Murphy]

Hey everyone,

We run a real estate wholesaling operation based in Florida, where we consistently deal with probate properties. We’re very familiar with Florida’s probate process, but we are now expanding our focus to Texas and want to better understand the options for bypassing probate there.

From our research, it looks like an Affidavit of Heirship can be used to transfer real property without going through full probate, as long as certain conditions are met (e.g., no formal estate administration, all heirs in agreement, etc.). However, we’d love to get some real-world feedback from investors, title companies, or attorneys who have actually used this process successfully in Texas.

A few questions we’re hoping to clarify:

1. How effective is an Affidavit of Heirship in practice? Do title companies accept it, or do they often require a full probate anyway?
2. What are the key pitfalls to watch out for when using this approach?
3. Does anyone have a sample Affidavit of Heirship document they’d be willing to share or point us to an official source where we can get the right version?
4. Are there any Texas-specific nuances that make this process easier or harder than in other states?
5. How does this process work if we are doing a partial interest buyout? For example, if there are multiple heirs, but we are only buying out some of them, can we use a quitclaim deed or warranty deed to acquire their interest while the remaining heirs maintain ownership? How does this impact title and future marketability?

If you have experience using this process in Texas, we’d love to hear about any successful (or unsuccessful) attempts and whether it has helped streamline deals. Also, if you have a preferred probate attorney in Texas who handles these situations efficiently, referrals are always welcome!

Thanks in advance for any insights! Looking forward to learning from the BP community.

- Dominic
Florida-based real estate investor