Texas planning library
A useful Texas estate plan coordinates what happens at death, who acts during incapacity, who cares for minor children, and how the people you choose find the information they need.
The legal foundation
Texas does not place every planning issue in one document. Will execution is governed by the Estates Code, intestacy has its own distribution chapter, trusts are governed by the Property Code, and healthcare directives sit in the Health and Safety Code. Start with the jobs below, then have a licensed Texas attorney fit the documents to your facts.
A non-holographic Texas will generally must be signed as the statute directs and attested by two or more credible witnesses age 14 or older who sign in the testator's presence. A will wholly in the testator's handwriting follows a different statutory rule. Read Texas Estates Code Chapter 251.
Texas's default shares depend on a spouse, descendants, and whether property is community or separate property. Follow the actual branches in Texas Estates Code Chapter 201 and the Texas State Law Library overview.
The executor named in the will has first priority in Texas's appointment order, subject to qualification and court appointment. Review candidate eligibility in Texas Estates Code Chapter 304.
A surviving parent may designate an eligible guardian by will or qualifying declaration, while the court retains the statutory disqualification and best-interest review. See Texas Estates Code Section 1104.053.
A durable power of attorney grants financial and property authority under its terms and the Texas durability requirements; it is not a medical authorization. See Texas Estates Code Chapter 751 and the statutory form in Chapter 752.
Texas's medical power of attorney names an agent, while the directive to physicians records choices for defined terminal or irreversible conditions. Use current Texas HHS forms and Health and Safety Code Chapter 166.
A Texas trust requires intent and trust property under the statutory creation rules. Signing a document does not answer how every asset will be transferred or titled. Review Texas Property Code Chapter 112 with counsel.
Online wills in Texas
An online workflow can help organize decisions or produce a document, but it does not replace Texas execution requirements. Typed and holographic wills follow different rules under Chapter 251. Follow the current instructions for the exact will, witnesses, signatures, and any self-proving affidavit.
The Texas Judicial Branch publishes Supreme Court-approved will forms for several common family structures on its official forms page. The Texas State Law Library points to those forms and recommends lawyer review regardless of the situation.
Go deeper
Intestacy
Follow the spouse, descendants, community-property, and separate-property branches without relying on family myths.
Read the guideExecutor
Compare eligibility, reliability, conflict tolerance, independent administration, and backup candidates.
Read the guideMinor children
Use a child-centered process and understand the court's qualification and best-interest review.
Read the guidePlan structure
Separate probate instructions and guardian nominations from property actually held under a trust.
Read the guideFinancial incapacity
Choose an agent, timing, scope, safeguards, and successor for lifetime property and financial authority.
Read the guideHealthcare
Name a healthcare decision-maker and record treatment preferences using current Texas HHS materials.
Read the guideA service can help organize or produce a document, but the final will still must satisfy Texas execution law. A typed will generally requires the statutory signature and witness process; a holographic will follows a different rule.
Texas Estates Code Chapter 251Notarization and will validity are not the same question. Texas law separately addresses execution and self-proving wills, so follow the current statute and legal guidance for the exact document being signed.
Texas Estates Code Chapter 251Treat them as separate decisions. A guardian cares for a child under the court's appointment, while an executor administers the probate estate after court appointment and qualification.
Texas Estates Code Chapter 1104They cover different authority. The Texas statutory durable power of attorney concerns property and finances; a medical power of attorney is governed separately by the Advance Directives Act.
Texas Estates Code Chapter 752WillBuddy helps organize your decisions and produce Texas planning drafts. It does not replace legal advice, attorney review, or proper execution of your final documents.
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