A dependent administration is a court-supervised estate. It usually happens because the heirs cannot agree, creditors are pressing, or the person holding the assets needs oversight, and a Bexar County probate judge decides the estate should not run unsupervised. From then on, the administrator must get court approval before acting.
Independent administration is the route most Texas wills ask for, and it moves quickly because the executor acts without going back to the judge. In a dependent administration, a judge must sign an order before the administrator sells land, pays a disputed claim, or settles a lawsuit.
| What changes | Independent administration | Dependent administration |
|---|---|---|
| Court approval | The executor acts alone for ordinary acts. | Significant acts need a signed order before they happen, not after. |
| Bond | Commonly waived where the will provides for it. | Usually required, with terms set by the judge. |
| Accountings | A beneficiary has to demand one, and under Estates Code 404.001 cannot do that until fifteen months have passed. | Accounting to the court is built in. An Annual Account sixty days past deadline is a ground for the Bexar dismissal docket under Local Rule 8.1(d). |
| Selling property | The executor signs the deed. | Application, court approval, then confirmation after the sale, under Estates Code 356.251, 356.252, 356.551, 356.552. |
| Cost of running it | Fewer filings, fewer settings, a shorter file. | Each act is its own application with its own proposed order, required as a separate lead document by Bexar Local Rule 2.4. |
| When it fits | The beneficiaries agree and nobody suspects anybody. | The beneficiaries do not agree, creditor claims need to be resolved on the record, or the person handling the money needs oversight. |
Most start with a dispute. Common reasons include:
Filing a contest or a written opposition to any application makes the matter contested automatically under the Bexar County probate courts’ local rules, approved September 25, 2026, and the court may then set a scheduling conference. That is Rule 6.1(a), and from that point the family disagreement is litigation with deadlines.
Before you file, note that Rule 3.2(a) requires an individual applying to serve as administrator to be represented by an attorney, and under 3.2(b) the clerk accepts the filing but the court takes no action until a lawyer appears.
When an estate cannot pay everyone, the dispute is usually about the priority of a debt, not whether it is owed. Estates Code 355.102 classifies claims against the estate, and classification decides who gets paid when there is not enough for everyone. In a dependent administration, those decisions are made on the record, where other parties can object.
Estates Code 355.102.
The administrator cannot list the house, close the sale, and report to the court afterward. The administrator must apply for approval, the court approves the sale, and the court then confirms it after it closes. Estates Code 356.251 and 356.252 govern approval of a sale of estate property; 356.551 and 356.552 govern the court’s confirmation of it.
Plan the sale around that process, and tell any buyer early that a court order is needed before closing. If title is disputed, Bexar County has an advantage over many counties: Gov’t Code 25.0173(a) gives all three Bexar statutory probate courts jurisdiction to decide the issue of title to real or personal property, so the title dispute and the estate can be heard in the same court.
Estates Code 356.251, 356.252, 356.551, 356.552; Gov’t Code 25.0173(a).
Under Bexar County Local Rule 8.1(b), the court may set a case for a dismissal hearing once it has been pending more than one year with no trial setting, no final hearing, and no signed interlocutory order. Dependent administrations move slowly, and a year can pass quickly.
If that hearing is set, Rule 8.2(a) requires a verified Motion to Retain filed at least seven days beforehand, and Rule 8.2(b) requires a proposed scheduling order showing a specific timeline to disposition. Missing the seven-day deadline can cost you the case.
Court supervision adds filings and time. Every application needs its own proposed order under Rule 2.4, and every contested step can draw a setting. Annual accounts have to be accurate, because a late one is a dismissal ground on its own. More filings mean higher costs.
We do not quote fees on our website. A dependent administration often takes more than a year, and on the first call we will discuss whether the dispute justifies that cost. Sometimes it does not, and we will tell you so before you file.
Bexar County has three statutory probate courts under Gov’t Code 25.0171(c): No. 1 (Judge Oscar J. Kazen), No. 2 (Judge Veronica Vasquez), and No. 3 (Judge Barbie Scharf-Zeldes). Courts 1 and 2 sit at 100 Dolorosa, Rooms 117 and 123; Court 3 is at Suite 1.20. Associate Judge Ben A. Wallis III serves Court No. 2.
Administrations are assigned equally among the three courts. Under Gov’t Code 25.0173(p) the Bexar probate judges may sit and act for each other in any probate matter, and Local Rule 1.3(b) adds that no formal appointment order is necessary, so a different judge may hear a matter in your case. Surrounding counties work differently: in Bandera, Medina, Comal, Guadalupe and Atascosa, probate is heard by the county court or a county court at law.
KREIG San Antonio is a probate litigation practice. We do not take routine uncontested independent administrations, muniment of title, or small estate affidavits. If the family agrees and no one objects, another probate firm can do that work for less.
If the heirs in a Bexar County estate cannot agree, a creditor is pressing, or property has to be sold under court supervision, call us and we will tell you whether a dependent administration makes sense.
The first consultation is short and free.