If a trust dispute involves Bexar County, you can usually choose between district court and one of the county’s statutory probate courts, and that choice matters. Trust disputes most often start when a trustee stops communicating or when the trust’s terms no longer fit the family’s circumstances.
Start with the general rule. Property Code 115.001(a) places original and exclusive jurisdiction over proceedings concerning trusts in the district courts, except as provided by subsection (d). Under subsection (d)(1), that exclusivity does not apply to jurisdiction conferred by law on a statutory probate court.
Estates Code 32.006 confers it. In a county that has a statutory probate court, that court has jurisdiction of an action by or against a trustee, an action involving an inter vivos, testamentary or charitable trust, and actions involving an agent under a power of attorney. Bexar County has three such courts under Gov’t Code 25.0171(c), all at 100 Dolorosa.
As a result, the estate dispute and the trust dispute can be heard by the same judge on one schedule, instead of in two courts. That is not true everywhere in Texas. In Bandera, Medina, Comal, Guadalupe and Atascosa, where probate is heard by the county court or a county court at law, the trust part of the same dispute generally belongs in district court.
Property Code 115.001(a) and 115.001(d)(1); Estates Code 32.006; Gov’t Code 25.0171(c).
| The claim | Forum available to you | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Suit by or against a trustee, Bexar County | District court, or any of the three Bexar probate courts | Prop. Code 115.001(a), (d)(1); Estates Code 32.006 |
| Same suit, county with no statutory probate court | District court only | Prop. Code 115.001(a) |
| Testamentary trust tied to an open Bexar estate | The court that already has the estate | Estates Code 32.006 with 115.001(d)(1) |
| Who owns a house the trust claims | All three Bexar courts can decide title | Gov’t Code 25.0173(a) |
You do not choose among the three. Apart from mental health matters, which go to Probate Court No. 1 under Gov’t Code 25.0173(n) and (o), cases are assigned equally among the courts. Judge Oscar J. Kazen sits in Court No. 1, Judge Veronica Vasquez in No. 2, Judge Barbie Scharf-Zeldes in No. 3.
This is the most common reason beneficiaries call us. The trustee is a sibling or family friend, the first year goes fine, and then the statements stop. The longer a trustee goes without accounting, the harder it is to trace the money.
Property Code 113.151 lets a beneficiary ask a court to compel a trust accounting. Make your demand in writing and keep a copy, because the demand and the response, or lack of one, will be central to the case. What the trustee cannot produce usually shows whether the problem is poor records or missing money.
Local Rule 3.2(a) requires an individual to be represented by an attorney when representing a third party such as a beneficiary, heir or creditor. Rule 3.2(b) adds that the clerk will accept the filing, but the court takes no action until an attorney appears.
Under the Bexar County probate courts’ local rules, approved September 25, 2026, Rule 6.2(b) says that except for good cause shown the court will generally require mediation before a contested matter is set for final trial. Rule 6.2(e) requires all parties and lead counsel to attend in good faith, which requires a person present with full settlement authority.
The accounting and tracing work gives you leverage at mediation, so it needs to be done early.
Not every trust problem is somebody’s fault. A trust written fifteen years ago can carry a distribution scheme that no longer makes sense, a trustee position nobody can fill, or terms that cost more than the asset earns. Everyone may agree that something has to change and still lack the power to change it.
Property Code 112.054 is the route for judicial modification. The questions are whether the change you want fits within Section 112.054 and whether you can prove the supporting facts. Nobody is accused of wrongdoing, and the opposition often comes from a contingent beneficiary rather than the trustee.
Where the trust holds real property, Bexar County has another advantage. Gov’t Code 25.0173(a) gives all three statutory probate courts jurisdiction to decide title to real or personal property, so a dispute over whether the house was ever deeded into the trust does not require a separate lawsuit.
A common example: a parent dies with a will that pours the estate into a trust and names the same adult child as both independent executor and trustee. One person controls both sides of the transfer, and the question is whether the assets that should have gone into the trust ever got there.
Different statutes apply to each role. Against the executor, Estates Code 404.001 lets a beneficiary demand an accounting from an independent executor after fifteen months, and if the executor does not provide it within sixty days, the beneficiary can ask the court to compel it. Against the trustee, Property Code 113.151 governs. That means two sets of records and two statutory procedures.
In a county with no statutory probate court, those claims may end up in two different courts. In Bexar County they can stay together. If scheduling becomes a problem, Gov’t Code 25.0173(p) lets the Bexar probate judges sit and act for each other in any probate matter, and local Rule 1.3(b) confirms no formal appointment order is necessary.
Our San Antonio practice handles trust litigation. We do not draft trusts, write wills or build estate plans, and we do not take on routine uncontested administration. If you need a trust prepared or amended by agreement, an estate planning attorney will do it for less.
Bring the trust document and the last statement the trustee sent you, and we will tell you which court your case belongs in.
The first consultation is short and free.