Probate Estate Closing and Representative Discharge in Texas

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Closing routes and prerequisites

Texas separates supervised final settlement from the independent route. For the former, the statute directs settlement when known debts are paid to the extent assets permit and no further administration is needed. The independent report-or-notice route adds no pending litigation and prior distribution of remaining assets. An independent executor is expressly not required to use the closing or judicial-discharge procedures. (Tex. Est. Code § 362.001; § 405.004; § 405.012.)

Who may start or compel closing

An interested person can seek to compel settlement of an estate whose record does not show closure. Once an independent estate is fully administered, a distributee may apply to close it; after citation on the executor and a hearing, the court may require a closing report and order the administration closed. (Tex. Est. Code § 362.002; § 405.009.)

Final filing and final account

For supervised settlement, the representative presents a verified final account. It may refer back to an inventory or approved transactions, but unaccounted items require vouchers; the account identifies property received and disposed of, debts, remaining property and recipients, among other required facts. In the independent route, a verified closing report lists estate property, debts and distributees and supplies signed receipts or other proof of delivery. A shorter verified notice of closing states the debt and distribution facts and names the distributees; it must include proof that each distributee received a copy. (Tex. Est. Code § 362.003; § 362.004; § 405.005; § 405.006.)

Distribution or delivery

The independent executor must distribute remaining assets before using the report-or-notice closing route. In a supervised estate, the court's final order follows delivery of remaining property to its recipients or satisfaction of the statutory treatment of property for a missing or unknown person. (Tex. Est. Code § 405.004; § 362.013.)

Notice, objections and court action

For a supervised account, heirs or distributees receive citation and a copy of the account; the court examines vouchers and hears exceptions before settling it. An independent report or notice closes the administration 30 days after filing unless an interested person objects in that period; an objection delays closure until it is disposed of or the court signs a closing order. The notice route separately requires advance delivery of the notice to distributees. (Tex. Est. Code § 362.005; § 362.006; § 405.006; § 405.007.)

Closing effect and discharge

When no estate property remains on supervised final settlement, the court orders discharge, cancels letters, releases any bond sureties and closes the estate. The fully administered route likewise requires account approval and completed delivery before that order. Independent report-or-notice closure ends the executor's authority and cancels letters, yet does not absolve mismanagement or false statements. (Tex. Est. Code § 362.012; § 362.013; § 405.007.)

What trips people up

The independent closing report and notice have different bond effects: filing the report with required delivery proof releases sureties from liability for future acts; filing the notice does not. A representative seeking release from liability for fully and fairly disclosed past administration may pursue a separate declaratory-judgment action, in which the court may require a final account. (Tex. Est. Code § 405.007; § 405.003.)

Common questions

Can a distributee make an independent executor close the estate? A distributee may apply after full administration; the court may then order a report and closure after citation and hearing. (Tex. Est. Code § 405.009.)

May an independent executor reserve assets while seeking judicial discharge? Yes. The separate judicial-discharge procedure permits a reasonable reserve pending approval of the final account, and the court may review its amount. (Tex. Est. Code § 405.003.)

Statutes and sources

The quoted Texas Estates Code provisions were accessed October 4, 2026 from the official chapter 362 and 405 pages linked in the source records above.