Austin Living Trust: Travis County Probate Court and Deed Recording

By Rozsa Gyene, California estate planning attorney, State Bar of California #208356. Published September 28, 2026. Last reviewed September 28, 2026.

Which county this page covers

This page covers Travis County. If your Austin address is in another county, probate is filed with that county's court and deeds are recorded with that county's clerk, not with the Travis County offices below. Which neighboring counties the city reaches into is not stated here, because no official page stating it could be opened when this page was written.

Travis County Probate Courts

Travis County's site describes what its probate courts do: they probate the wills of deceased persons, declare the heirs of people who die without a will, establish guardianships for incapacitated persons and minors, supervise involuntary mental health commitments, and administer all eminent domain cases in the county. They also hear lawsuits related to a decedent's estate, from fiduciary litigation to family law. The site lists a court policy for applicants without a lawyer, local rules, filing instructions and a page on attorney's fees in probate court.

The clerk's office, not the court, answers questions about filing procedures and court costs, posting and citation issuance, obtaining letters testamentary or of guardianship, record searches and copies, and e-filing status. The court's page says the current schedule of court costs, the clerk's fees, is on the clerk's site; those figures were not on the pages read for this article, so none are quoted here. Documents are e-filed through an electronic filing service provider chosen at efiletexas.gov, and case records can be searched on the Travis County Odyssey Portal and re:SearchTX.

Recording a deed with the Travis County Clerk

The clerk's Recording Division files, records and maintains real property records. Its Real Property page states the rules: documents may be filed in person or by mail; the original with original signatures is required and the clerk will not record a copy; recordings are completed immediately once received, and most documents are processed, assigned an instrument number, scanned and returned by mail or handed straight back to customers at the counter.

Fee and payment

The filing fee per document is $25 for the first page and $4 for each additional page; the clerk's Recording Fees page carries the detailed schedule. Cash, credit card, checks and money orders are accepted, with checks payable to Travis County Clerk.

E-recording

Travis County offers eRecording through Corporation Service Company, eRecording Partners Network, Indecomm, Four Tier Software and Ice Mortgage Technology (Simplifile), but Texas Local Government Code 195.003 limits electronic filing to attorneys licensed in Texas, banks and lenders, title companies and agents, licensed regulated lenders and state agencies. An Austin homeowner recording a trust deed personally files it at the counter or by mail.

What this means for an Austin homeowner

A home titled in your own name at death is part of the estate that Probate Court No. 1 or No. 2 administers, following the steps in the Texas probate process guide. A home already deeded to the trustee of your living trust is not: the successor trustee takes over under the trust's terms. That deed is recorded once, with the Travis County Clerk, while you are alive.