Texas Estates Code · Chapters 351 & 361
Dependent (Court-Supervised) Administration
Texas gives an estate two ways to be administered. The streamlined one, independent administration, is used for most estates. The other, a dependent administration, keeps the probate court closely involved: the representative asks the judge’s permission before paying debts, selling property, or distributing anything, and answers to the court through accountings and, when it comes to it, removal. It is the right tool when a will forbids independence, the heirs cannot agree, or an estate needs a judge watching the money. Below is the statute, in plain English, a guide to which path applies, and how it works in the Tarrant County probate courts.
What it is
A probate administration in which the court supervises the representative’s major actions.
When it is used
When a will forbids independence, the heirs cannot all agree, or an estate is contested or creditor-heavy.
The trade-off
More protection and oversight, but court approval, accountings, and usually a bond, so more time and cost.
Where you file
The Tarrant County Clerk’s Probate Division, assigned to Probate Court No. 1 or No. 2.
Independent or Dependent: Which Applies?
Answer a question or two to see whether an estate is headed for the streamlined independent path or a court-supervised dependent administration. This is general information, not legal advice about your specific estate.
What does the will say about administration?
Logic follows Tex. Est. Code §§ 401.001–401.003 (when independent administration is available); dependent administration is the default when it is not. Read the text below.
What a Dependent Administration Is, and When You End Up in One
A dependent administration is probate with the court in the room for every important decision. The representative, here usually called a dependent administrator, cannot simply pay a claim, sell the house, or hand out the estate. As Section 351.051 lays out, those actions ordinarily require a written application to the court and an order authorizing them. The court can also review the estate year to year and test whether the bond still protects it. It is deliberately slower and more formal than independent administration, and that formality is the point: it protects beneficiaries and creditors when there is a reason not to trust the process to run itself.
Most families do not choose a dependent administration; they land in one because independent administration is unavailable. That happens in a few recurring ways. The will may expressly forbid independent administration. There may be no will, or a will that does not grant independence, and the distributees cannot all agree to it, Chapters 401.002 and 401.003 require unanimous consent, so a single objection closes the independent door. Or the estate may be contested, or carry heavy creditor claims, such that a court concludes supervision is in the estate’s best interest.
The counterweight to all that supervision is accountability, which is Chapter 361’s job. A dependent representative who neglects the inventory, ignores a court order, mismanages the estate, or drags it past a three-year settlement can be removed, sometimes without notice. Taken together, Chapter 351’s controls and Chapter 361’s removal powers are what make a dependent administration the safe harbor for a difficult estate, at the cost of the speed and economy an independent administration offers.
Dependent vs. Independent Administration
| Feature | Dependent administration | Independent administration |
|---|---|---|
| Court supervision | Court approves almost every action | Minimal after the opening steps |
| Selling estate property | Requires a motion, a hearing, and a court order | Executor sells under the will or a granted power of sale |
| Paying debts | Court-supervised claims process (Ch. 355) | Executor evaluates and pays valid claims |
| Ongoing accountings | Annual accountings to the court | Generally none required |
| Bond | Usually required | Often waived |
| Typical cost and timeline | Higher, and longer | Lower, about 6 to 12 months uncontested |
| When it is used | Disputes, uncooperative heirs, a will that forbids independence, or heavy creditor issues | The default for most estates |
Dependent administration is not a failure or a penalty; it is the right structure for a hard estate. Much of the value a probate attorney adds at the outset is telling you honestly which form your situation calls for, and, where possible, clearing the way to the faster independent administration instead.
How a Dependent Administration Works in the Tarrant County Probate Courts
Chapters 351 and 361 are state law, but the administration runs in Tarrant County, in front of one of the county’s two statutory probate courts. Here is what the supervision looks like on the ground in Fort Worth:
- Court approval for major actions (Section 351.051). To pay a claim, settle litigation, or deal with a doubtful debt, the administrator files an application and the Tarrant County court signs an order. Selling a house runs through the court-ordered sale process in Chapter 356.
- The inventory deadline (Section 361.051). The inventory and list of claims is due within 90 days of qualifying. Missing it is grounds for removal without notice, and it is one of the most common ways a dependent administration goes off the rails.
- Annual accountings and bond review (Section 351.353). The administrator files annual accountings, and the court can review the estate and the bond each year and require a larger bond if needed. This ongoing oversight is the core of a dependent administration.
- The bond. A dependent administration almost always requires a bond, and the premium is a recurring cost. Section 351.151 makes the administrator and the sureties answerable for property lost through neglect, which is why the bond matters.
- Removal as the backstop (Sections 361.051-361.052). If the administrator mismanages the estate, ignores an order, or fails to make a final settlement within three years, the court can remove and replace them. That is the enforcement behind every other rule.
The practical takeaway
A dependent administration is more work, but it is the right, and sometimes the only, tool for a contested or complicated estate. Our dependent administration practice handles the applications, the accountings, and the court appearances a supervised estate requires, and will tell you first whether the faster independent path is available instead.
The Statute: Texas Estates Code Chapters 351 and 361
Chapter 351 (powers and duties of a personal representative) and Chapter 361 (resignation, removal, and successors) are the core of a court-supervised administration. The text below is the operative language, public record, lightly condensed where a subsection is procedural (flagged inline), with a plain-English note under each. The complete official versions are on the Texas Legislature site: Chapter 351 and Chapter 361.
Sec. 351.051. Exercise of Authority Under Court Order
(a) A personal representative may renew or extend any obligation owed by or to the estate on application and order. If the representative considers it in the interest of the estate, the representative may, on written application to the court and if authorized by court order: (1) purchase or exchange property; (2) take claims or property in payment of a debt due the estate; (3) compound bad or doubtful debts; (4) make a compromise or settlement in relation to property or a claim in dispute or litigation; (5) compromise or pay in full a secured claim by conveying the collateral to the claimant; or (6) abandon the administration of burdensome or worthless estate property.
This is the essence of a dependent administration: the representative can act, but usually only "on written application to the court and if authorized by court order." Renewing a note, settling a lawsuit, dealing with a doubtful debt, each ordinarily takes a motion and the judge’s sign-off. It is the mirror image of independent administration, where the executor does these things without asking. Selling estate property to pay debts follows the same pattern under Chapter 356.
Sec. 351.052. Exercise of Authority Without Court Order
(a) A personal representative may, without application to or order of the court: (1) release a lien on payment at maturity of the secured debt; (2) vote stocks by proxy; (3) pay calls and assessments; (4) insure the estate against liability in appropriate cases; (5) insure estate property against fire, theft, and other hazards; or (6) pay taxes, court costs, and bond premiums.
(b) A personal representative under court control may still apply for an order if the representative has doubts about the propriety of exercising any of these powers.
The statute carves out a short list of routine, low-risk acts a dependent representative can handle without a court order, insuring the house, paying taxes and bond premiums, releasing a lien that has been paid. Everything of consequence is off this list. And even here, subsection (b) lets a cautious representative go to the court for cover when in doubt, which is the instinct court supervision tends to encourage.
Sec. 351.101. Duty of Care
An executor or administrator shall take care of estate property as a prudent person would take of that person’s own property, and if any buildings belong to the estate, shall keep those buildings in good repair, except for extraordinary casualties, unless directed by a court order not to do so.
Court supervision does not lower the bar, it raises the stakes for missing it. The representative must manage estate property as a prudent person would manage their own, including keeping a house in repair. In a dependent administration a judge is watching whether that duty is met, and the removal powers in Chapter 361 are the enforcement behind it.
Sec. 351.151. Ordinary Diligence Required
(a) If there is a reasonable prospect of collecting the claims or recovering the property of an estate, the personal representative shall use ordinary diligence to (1) collect all claims and debts due the estate, and (2) recover possession of all property to which the estate has claim or title.
(b) If a personal representative wilfully neglects to use that ordinary diligence, the representative and the sureties on the representative’s bond are liable, on the suit of any interested person, for the amount of the claims or value of the property lost by the neglect.
The representative has to actively pursue what the estate is owed, not sit back, and subsection (b) puts real teeth in it: a representative who wilfully neglects that duty, along with the bond sureties, can be sued for what the estate lost. This is why a dependent administration almost always carries a bond, and why the bond amount and the representative’s diligence get real attention.
Sec. 351.353. Annual Examination of Certain Estates; Bond of Personal Representative
For each estate administered under orders of a county or probate court, the judge shall, if the judge considers it necessary, annually examine the condition of the estate and the solvency of the bond of the estate’s personal representative. If the judge finds the bond is not sufficient to protect the estate, the judge shall require a new bond, and shall notify the representative and the sureties.
A dependent estate stays on the court’s radar year after year. The judge can annually review how the estate is doing and whether the bond is still adequate, and can order a larger bond if it is not. This ongoing oversight, paired with the annual accountings the code requires, is what makes a dependent administration more protective, and more work, than an independent one.
Sec. 361.051. Removal Without Notice
The court, on its own motion or the motion of any interested person, and without notice, may remove a personal representative who: (1) neglects to qualify in the manner and time required; (2) fails to return, before the 91st day after qualifying, an inventory and list of claims, unless extended; (3) fails to give a required new bond in time; (4) is absent from the state three or more months without permission, or moves out of state; (5) cannot be served because their whereabouts are unknown, they are eluding service, or they are a nonresident without a resident agent; or (6) has misapplied, embezzled, or removed from the state, or is about to, estate property.
Chapter 361 is the accountability half of the story. For clear-cut failures, missing the inventory deadline, skipping a required bond, disappearing, or looting the estate, the court can remove a representative immediately and without notice. These are the guardrails that make court supervision meaningful, and the inventory deadline in item (2) is a common trap.
Sec. 361.052. Removal With Notice
(a) The court may remove a personal representative, after notice, if: (1) sufficient grounds appear that the representative has misapplied, embezzled, or removed estate property, or is about to; (2) the representative fails to return any required account; (3) the representative fails to obey a proper court order; (4) the representative is proved guilty of gross misconduct or mismanagement; (5) the representative becomes incapacitated, is sentenced to the penitentiary, or otherwise becomes incapable of performing the duties; or (6) the representative fails to make a final settlement by the third anniversary of the grant of letters, unless extended for cause.
For less clear-cut problems, the court removes a representative only after notice and a chance to respond. The list is telling: failing to file an accounting, disobeying an order, gross mismanagement, or dragging the estate past a three-year settlement deadline. Every item is something court supervision is designed to catch, which is exactly why a dependent administration is the right tool when trust is thin.
Also in Chapters 351 and 361, summarized here for length
- Sec. 351.001-351.054. General provisions and the scope of a representative’s authority, including the duty of care and authority to bring suit. See the official text.
- Sec. 351.201-351.253. Operating a decedent’s business and mortgaging or pledging estate property, each on court order. See the official text.
- Sec. Ch. 355 & 356. The court-supervised claims process and court-ordered sales of estate property, the reason selling a house in a dependent administration needs a court order. See the official text.
- Sec. 361.001-361.106. Resignation of a representative, revocation of letters, and appointment of a successor. See the official text.
- Sec. 361.151-361.155. The rights, powers, and duties of a successor representative, including returning a fresh inventory. See the official text.
Source: Texas Estates Code, Chapters 351 and 361, published by the Texas Legislative Council at statutes.capitol.texas.gov. Statutory text is in the public domain. The plain-English notes, Tarrant County guidance, and independent-versus-dependent guide are original and © Fort Worth Probate Attorney.
Dependent Administration Questions
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