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The probate courts' standing order (signed Jan. 27, 2025; amending SO-2015-00007 and SO-2015-00008) requiring the Clerk to collect a $600 retainer deposit, administrative fee waived, in every application for determination of heirship (Estates Code § 53.052(a)) and every guardianship application (§ 1053.052(a), except applicants described in §§ 1053.052(c) and 1155.151(a-2)) filed on or after Feb. 1, 2025, held for the attorney ad litem's fees; the Clerk releases the approved fee to the ad litem and any balance to the applicant within 30 days of the fee order, and the applicant pays any excess within 30 days.
Texas > Denton County > Probate Court No. 1 and Probate Court No. 2 — applicants in determinations of heirship and guardianships filed on or after Feb. 1, 2025; attorneys ad litem; the County Clerk.
"IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that as provided in Tex. Est. Code § 53.052(a), for all applications for Determination of Heirship filed on or after February 1, 2025, the Clerk of the Court shall collect a Retainer Deposit in the amount of $600.00, with administrative fee waived, in every cause in which an application for determination of heirship is filed. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that as provided in Tex. Est. Code § 1053.052(a), for all applications for guardianship filed on or after February 1, 2025, the Clerk of the Court shall collect a Retainer Deposit in the amount of $600.00, with administrative fee waived, in every cause in which an application for guardianship is filed other than those applications filed by persons described in Tex. Est. Code § 1053.052(c) and Tex. Est. Code § 1155.151(a-2). The aforementioned Retainer Deposits shall be held by the Clerk of the Court for the payment of the fees of the attorney ad litem upon a proper order directing the taxing of the same as costs in the proceeding and the filing of an Order for Mandatory Report of Judicial Appointment and Fees. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that if the Court ordered amount of reasonable and necessary attorney's fees and expenses to be paid to the Attorney Ad Litem is less than the $600.00 Retainer Deposit and the Attorney Ad Litem has been discharged from his or her duty, the Clerk shall release from the Retainer Deposit to the Attorney Ad Litem … the amount for reasonable and necessary attorney's fees and expenses approved in the case. After payment to the Ad Litem, the Clerk shall then release … the remaining amount of the Retainer Deposit to the Applicant within thirty (30) days from the Court's signed Order approving attorney's fees and expenses. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that if the Court ordered amount … is more than the $600.00 Retainer Deposit, the clerk shall release the $600.00 Retainer Deposit … to the Attorney Ad Litem in the case within thirty (30) days from the Court's signed Order approving attorney's fees and expenses. The remaining balance of the attorney's fees owed to the Attorney Ad Litem shall be paid by the Applicant in accordance with the Court's signed Order within thirty (30) days. SIGNED on January 27, 2025."
"IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that as provided in Tex. Est. Code § 53.052(a), for all applications for Determination of Heirship filed on or after February 1, 2025, the Clerk of the Court shall collect a Retainer Deposit in the amount of $600.00, with administrative fee waived, in every cause in which an application for determination of heirship is filed. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that as provided in Tex.
Reviewer note: Text-layer registration (2 pp) read in full 2026-09-06; quoted verbatim; signed by Judge Christopher J. Everett (Court No. 2). Composed benchpath-ajr8-denton. County-site receipt(s) in custody 2026-09-06: https://www.dentoncounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/10305/Standing-Order-Regarding-Security-of-Cost-for-Attorney-Ad-Litem-PDF (identical edition).
Dallas County Standing Order Regarding Children, Pets, Property and Conduct of the Parties (Family District Courts General Orders, current edition F2026/05, revised Jan. 31, 2026 — a re-adoption of the same operative text by the current bench: Hon. Kim Brown (254th), Vonda Bailey (255th), Sandre Streete (256th), Ashley Wysocki (301st), Sandra Jackson (302nd), LaDeitra Adkins (303rd), and Andrea D. Plumlee (330th)), as registered in the statewide TOPICs local-rules registry (posted 01/11/2023). The order "applies in every divorce suit and every suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed in Dallas County" automatically, without request: child-disruption prohibitions, pet protection, party-conduct restraints, divorce-case property/records/insurance freezes with specific authorizations, mandatory petition attachment, and its TRO-to-temporary-injunction lifecycle.
General Order of the Civil District Courts sitting in Dallas County (signed April 6, 2020 by the thirteen civil presiding judges), as registered in the statewide TOPICs local-rules registry (posted 10/07/2023): the 25-page limit on motions and briefs with formatting floors — the instrument the individual courts' policies cite as the amended page-limit rule.