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A will gives you a say in what happens to your property and the people you care about. We’ll help you put a clear, thoughtful plan in place for your family.

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Wills in Houston, Texas

Wills Lawyer in Houston, Texas

The single most expensive document in Texas estate law is the will somebody almost wrote.

We see them in our office most weeks. The yellow legal pad notes from 2014 that never got finished. The downloaded form filled out in two colors of ink and signed in the kitchen with one neighbor as a witness. The handwritten letter that says “this is my will” but isn’t dated. The typed will from a generic website that doesn’t match Texas formalities. Each of these costs the family two things when the person who wrote it dies: the will gets challenged or rejected, and the estate ends up passing under the Texas intestacy statutes — which almost never produces what the deceased actually wanted.

A properly drafted Texas will is not an expensive document. It’s a small piece of a real estate plan, and for most Houston families it does exactly what it needs to do. Your Legacy Legal Care® drafts wills that meet the Texas formalities, that get admitted to probate without a fight, and that work alongside the rest of the estate plan instead of contradicting it. We have been doing this in Houston for over 20 years, and the firm holds the Houston Chronicle’s Best Trust & Estate Law Firm award.

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How Much Does a Lawyer Charge for a Will in Texas?

A simple Texas will package — wills for a married couple, durable powers of attorney, medical powers of attorney, HIPAA authorizations, and Directives to Physicians — typically runs $1,500 to $3,500 at a Houston estate planning firm. A standalone will for an individual, with no supporting documents, runs $500 to $1,500.

We almost always recommend the package over the standalone will. A will alone covers what happens when you die. The supporting documents cover what happens during the years of incapacity that often precede death — and those years are when most Houston families actually need legal help. A will without a power of attorney leaves the family scrambling for guardianship at the worst possible moment.

Online wills cost $30 to $200. They are sometimes valid in Texas. The risks are not in the validity — they’re in the lack of integration with beneficiary designations, the absence of supporting documents, the missing self-proving affidavit (which makes probate slower and more expensive), and the structural mistakes the form can’t catch.

What Are the Requirements for a Will to Be Valid in Texas?

Texas recognizes two valid will forms, each with its own formalities.

A typewritten (formal or attested) will must be signed by the testator in the presence of two credible witnesses who are at least 14 years old, and who themselves sign the will in the testator’s presence. The witnesses cannot be beneficiaries (or they lose what the will gives them). The testator must have testamentary capacity at the time of signing — must be at least 18 years old (with limited exceptions for married minors and military service members), of sound mind, and acting voluntarily without undue influence.

A holographic (handwritten) will must be entirely in the testator’s own handwriting and signed by the testator. No witnesses are required. Texas is one of about 25 states that recognize holographic wills, but the formalities are strict — even one line typed or written by someone else can invalidate the entire document.

For both forms, Texas allows a self-proving affidavit, signed by the testator and witnesses in front of a notary, that lets the will be admitted to probate without the witnesses having to testify later. Every will we draft includes a self-proving affidavit. Without it, probate becomes more complicated and expensive when the witnesses are dead, missing, or hard to locate.

Do I Need an Attorney for a Will in Texas?

Texas does not legally require an attorney to draft a will. You’re allowed to write your own.

Whether you should is a different question. The families we see in Houston probate court fighting over a will rarely had no will. They had a will that was valid but ambiguous, valid but contradicted the beneficiary designations, valid but didn’t match what the family thought it said, or valid but missed something obvious — like a child born after the will was signed, or a piece of property the deceased acquired later, or an executor who had moved out of state and could no longer serve.

The cost of an attorney-drafted will is small relative to the cost of the family fight, the contested probate, or the intestacy distribution that an unclear or invalid will produces.

Can You Write Your Own Will Without a Lawyer?

You can, and Texas law will recognize it if it meets the formalities described above. The most defensible DIY option is a holographic will — entirely in your own handwriting, signed and dated. Typewritten DIY wills are riskier because the witness requirements trip up most people who try to handle the signing themselves. Online wills filled out at home and signed without proper witnesses are routinely rejected by Texas probate courts.

If you are going to write your own, write it by hand, sign it, date it, and tell someone where it is. Then make an appointment with a Texas estate planning attorney within the next 90 days to replace it with a properly drafted document.

What a Real Texas Will Should Include

A complete Texas will addresses the following at a minimum:

• A declaration that this document is the testator’s will and revocation of any prior wills. Without the revocation, prior conflicting wills can create disputes.
• Identification of the testator’s family — spouse, children, parents — including any specifically disinherited persons. Texas law treats children born after the will is signed differently if the will doesn’t address them. Ex-spouses and prior children also need to be addressed explicitly when relevant.
• Specific bequests of identified items — the wedding ring to the daughter, the watch to the son, the family Bible to the grandchild — separate from the residuary estate.
• A residuary clause disposing of everything not covered by specific bequests. Most family fights happen around the residue, which is why this clause needs to be unambiguous.
• Appointment of an executor and at least one alternate. The executor is the person responsible for administering the estate through probate, and choosing the right one matters enormously. We help clients think through this carefully because the choice often shapes whether probate is uncontested or hostile.
• Authorization for independent administration, which is the streamlined form of Texas probate that minimizes court involvement. Without this language, the executor may be forced into dependent administration, which is significantly slower and more expensive.
• Appointment of a guardian for minor children, if applicable. This is one of the most important provisions in any will written by a parent. We address it through our Children’s Safeguard Program.
• Testamentary trust provisions, if assets are being left to minor beneficiaries or beneficiaries who shouldn’t receive a lump sum.
• Self-proving affidavit, signed by the testator and witnesses before a notary at the time the will is signed.
• Tax allocation language, particularly for estates approaching the federal estate tax exemption.
• Specific authorities granted to the executor — the power to sell real estate, the power to operate a business, the power to compromise claims, the power to retain professional advisors.

These are the building blocks of a will that does what the testator intended. A document missing several of them can still be a “valid will” in the technical sense, but valid is the floor, not the ceiling.

When a Will Is Enough — and When You Need More

A will-based plan can be the right choice for younger families with modest assets, no real estate in their sole name, no out-of-state property, no business interests, no special needs beneficiaries, and no significant retirement accounts. The will gets the basics right, the estate goes through a relatively simple Texas probate, and the family is fine.

A will-based plan is not enough when the family owns real estate (which means the estate has to go through probate before the title transfers), when there are out-of-state assets (which require ancillary probate in each state), when incapacity planning matters, when Medicaid planning is on the horizon, when there’s a child with special needs, when a family business is part of the estate, when the family is blended, or when assets approach the federal estate tax exemption. In any of those situations, a revocable living trust coordinated with a pour-over will is usually the better structure. Our overview of wills vs. trusts walks through how to think about the choice.

When Texas Families Need to Update an Existing Will

Even families with a properly drafted will need to revisit it. The triggers we see most often:

A marriage, divorce, or remarriage. Texas law revokes some (but not all) provisions in favor of an ex-spouse on divorce — the rest of the will continues to operate as written, which is rarely what anyone wants.

The birth or adoption of a child. Texas has rules for “pretermitted children” — children born after the will is signed — but those rules often produce results the testator didn’t intend.

The death or incapacity of a named executor or beneficiary. The alternate provisions in a five-year-old will may have become inadequate.

A move to or from Texas. Wills drafted under another state’s law may need updating to match Texas formalities and to take advantage of Texas-specific tools (independent administration, the homestead exemption, Lady Bird deeds).

A significant change in net worth. A will drafted when the family had $400,000 in assets may be wholly inadequate when the family has $4 million.

A change in the law. The federal estate tax exemption was permanently set at $15 million per individual ($30 million per couple) for 2026 by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, indexed for inflation — a meaningful change from prior planning assumptions. Texas family law also underwent meaningful changes in the 2025 legislative session.

A diagnosis. Dementia, Parkinson’s, ALS, and other progressive conditions create a closing window during which a will can still be updated. After capacity is lost, the existing will is the will, even if it no longer reflects the family’s situation.

Why Houston Families Choose Your Legacy Legal Care®

A will is a small document with permanent consequences. The drafting decisions made today will be relied on by your family at the moment they are least equipped to deal with errors or ambiguity. We treat will drafting accordingly.

We are an estate planning, elder law, guardianship, and probate firm — that’s the whole practice. The same firm that drafts your will is the firm that probates it when the time comes, which means we draft wills we know will hold up in Harris County probate court. Attorney Kim Hegwood founded the firm to deliver estate planning the way she wished her own family’s plan had been built — proactively, in plain language, and integrated with the rest of the family’s situation rather than left as a single document in a drawer.

The firm operates from five offices across Greater Houston: Clear Lake, the Galleria, Katy, Bay City, and Sugar Land. We won the Houston Chronicle’s Best Trust & Estate Law Firm award. Most will engagements are quoted as a flat fee in writing before drafting begins.

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Five offices serving the Greater Houston area and clients across Texas.

Houston Wills FAQ

What Is a Holographic Will in Texas?

A holographic will is a will written entirely in the testator’s own handwriting and signed by the testator. Texas recognizes holographic wills without requiring witnesses, but the entire document — every word — must be in the testator’s handwriting. Even a small typed portion or a signature added by another person can invalidate the will.

How Do I Make a Will in Texas?

The simplest path is to engage a Texas estate planning attorney. The process typically takes two to three weeks: a strategy session to identify what the will needs to accomplish, a drafting period, and a signing meeting where the will is executed in the presence of witnesses and notarized with a self-proving affidavit. DIY options exist (handwritten holographic wills, online forms) but carry meaningfully higher risk of being challenged or rejected at probate.

What Happens If I Die Without a Will in Texas?

Your estate passes under the Texas intestacy statutes, which divide assets based on family relationships at the time of death. The results often surprise families — a surviving spouse may not inherit everything, separate property may go partly to children rather than the spouse, and stepchildren may receive nothing. The court appoints an administrator to handle the estate, and that person may not be the one you would have chosen. There’s no opportunity for the planning a will allows.

Do Wills Need to Be Notarized in Texas?

A Texas will does not have to be notarized to be valid. The notarization requirement attaches to the optional self-proving affidavit, which lets the will be admitted to probate without the witnesses having to testify later. Wills without a self-proving affidavit can still be probated, but the process is slower, more expensive, and depends on locating witnesses who may have moved, died, or be otherwise unavailable.

How Long Is a Will Valid in Texas?

A properly executed Texas will is valid until it is revoked, replaced by a later will, or invalidated by a court. There’s no expiration date. A will signed in 1985 can still be admitted to probate today if it meets Texas formalities. The practical question isn’t validity — it’s whether the will still reflects the family’s situation. A 30-year-old will rarely does.

Can I Disinherit a Spouse or Child in Texas?

Texas community property law makes it impossible to fully disinherit a spouse with respect to community property — the surviving spouse retains their 50% interest by operation of law. The other 50% (the deceased spouse’s community share) and any separate property can be left elsewhere. Children can generally be disinherited in Texas, but the disinheritance must be explicit and clearly worded — silence in the will is treated as oversight rather than intent.

What’s the Difference Between a Will and a Trust in Texas?

A will takes effect at death and operates through the probate court. A revocable living trust takes effect immediately on signing, holds assets during life, and transfers them at death without probate. Both can do similar things with respect to distributing assets — but a trust does it without court involvement, can address incapacity in ways a will can’t, and works across multiple states without ancillary proceedings.

Should I Have a Will or a Trust?

Most Houston families with a home, retirement accounts above $500,000, blended families, business interests, beneficiaries with special needs, or out-of-state property benefit from a trust-based plan. Families with simpler situations can be well served by a will-based plan. The decision should be made with an attorney based on the actual facts of your situation, not based on which option costs less to draft. See our overview of wills vs. trusts for more.