The first useful hour after a death is not spent at the courthouse. It is spent at a kitchen table with the bank statements, the deed, the vehicle titles, the last property tax bill, and whatever beneficiary paperwork the decedent kept, sorting each item by the question that actually decides everything: does this asset pass by contract, by recorded instrument, by operation of law, or only by court order? Texas answers that question asset by asset, not estate by estate. An estate can be substantial and still never see a judge, and a modest one can require a full administration because a single account was titled wrong.
One. Sort the inventory by transfer mechanism before you total it
Write down every asset and, next to it, the mechanism that moves it. A checking account with a payable on death designation moves by contract with the bank. A retirement plan or life insurance policy moves by beneficiary form. A house held under a transfer on death deed recorded during the owner's lifetime moves by that deed. Real property with no such deed and no survivorship agreement moves only through probate or an heirship proceeding. Once the list is sorted this way, the column that requires a court filing is often short, sometimes empty, and the column that does not is the reason many families never open a case at all.
Two. Payable on death accounts and beneficiary designations pay first
Financial institutions honor their own signature cards. A careful reader asks each bank, in writing, for a copy of the account agreement rather than accepting a teller's summary, because the difference between a joint account with right of survivorship, a convenience account, and a payable on death account is invisible on a statement and decisive afterward. Beneficiary forms on retirement accounts and annuities do the same work and override the will. Confirm that the named beneficiary is still living, that no divorce decree changed the picture, and that the institution has current contact information.
Three. Community property with right of survivorship, if the agreement exists
Texas spouses can agree in writing, signed by both, that their community property passes to the survivor without administration. That agreement is the whole question. Look for it in the deed file, the safe deposit box, and the estate planning folder, and read the description of what it covers, since some agreements reach all community property and others name specific accounts. Where the agreement exists and is properly signed, a title company or bank will usually accept it with a death certificate. Where it does not exist, the survivor's half is already hers and only the decedent's half is in play.
Four. Real property, and the two affidavits that often carry it
A recorded transfer on death deed settles a house cleanly, provided it was recorded before death and was never revoked; check the county clerk's real property index rather than relying on a copy in a drawer. Absent that, an affidavit of heirship, sworn by two disinterested witnesses who knew the family history and filed in the deed records of the county where the land sits, establishes the chain of title for most title companies, particularly after it has been on record long enough to carry evidentiary weight. A small estate affidavit is the other route: no will, assets other than the homestead below the statutory ceiling, and assets exceeding debts, approved by the judge and useful chiefly for a homestead.
Five. Vehicles, refunds, and the small tail of the estate
The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles publishes an affidavit of heirship for a motor vehicle that transfers a title among heirs without a court order when no administration is pending. Final paychecks, utility deposits, insurance refunds, and unclaimed property held by the state comptroller each have their own small-estate procedures, and most cost nothing beyond a notarized signature. One item genuinely does need attention: a final Form 1040, since the IRS is responsible for the decedent's last income tax return whether or not any court is involved. Count that filing as part of the work even when nothing else is.
The honest arithmetic is a comparison. A few hundred dollars in notary fees, certified death certificates, and recording charges against a filing fee, citation, and attorney's fee for an administration. Do the inventory first, in writing, and the answer usually declares itself.