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County Court at Law No. 1 First Amended Standing Administrative Order on Attorney and Guardian Ad Litem Appointment Li — Fort Bend County. The operative requirements are quoted verbatim from the governing document (registered/posted 02/23/2023); the document in custody is the controlling text.
Texas > Fort Bend County > County Court at Law No. 1
CAUSE NO. 20-CPR-000001 ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER § IN THE COUNTY COURT LOCAL ORDERS FOR ATTORNEY AND GUARDIAN AD LITEM LISTS FOR PROBATE AND GUARDIANSHIP CASES AND FOR COMPLIANCE WITH TEX. GOVT. CODE § 37.01 § AT LAW NUMBER ONE (1) FORT BEND COUNTY, TEXAS FIRST AMENDED STANDING ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER ON FORT BEND COUNTY COURT AT LAW NO. 1 ATTORNEY AND GUARDIAN AD LITEM APPOINTMENT LISTS On this day, Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 1 (the "Court") considered in chambers the Court's policy and procedures to administer the Attorney and Guardian Ad Litem Appointee Lists for both probate and guardianship cases in accordance with Texas Government Code § 37.004. The Court recently studied the issues surrounding the appointment of attorney ad litems and determined additional changes were needed to ensure the appointment of qualified attorney and guardian ad litems. Therefore, the Court finds that the following changes are required for attorney ad litem and guardian ad litem appointments, to ensure an efficient way to comply with Texas Government Code § 37.004. It is THEREFORE ORDERED and DECREED that: I. There will be two Attorney/Guardian Ad Litem Appointment Lists: Ad Litem List 1: Attorneys with 10 or more years of probate and guardianship experience who have requested to be appointed in complex, unique or contested probate and guardianship cases; and are qualified in accordance with this Order. Ad Litem List 2: Attorneys who have requested to be appointed and are qualified in accordance with this Order. II. Each year, the Court will update and post a copy of the current Attorney/Guardian Ad Litem Lists (the "Lists") on the Fort Bend County Public Notice Bulletin located at the entrance of the Fort Bend County Justice Center. The Lists will also be posted on the Court's website. The Lists shall contain the names of all attorneys in alphabetical order (the order in which attorneys are appointed may differ), who have met all local requirements and complied with all criteria set forth in this Order. III. To be considered for placement on the Lists, an attorney must email items a. – d. hereafter listed to the Court's Probate Auditor and complete items e. for placement on the Lists: a. A letter addressed to the Court on the attorney's letterhead, requesting placement on the Lists; b. A current State Bar of Texas Certified Attorney Ad Litem Certificate obtained by completion of the Texas Estates Code § 1054.201 mandated four hours of guardianship training; c. A resume or curriculum vitae; d. A completed Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 1 Application and Attorney Profile Form; e. Attend the Court's annual Practicing Probate in County Court at Law No. 1 CLE once a year or submit an affidavit stating you have attended 15 hours of Probate and Guardianship CLE within the past fiscal year and attach the relevant course documentation. After items a. - d. have been submitted to the Court, the Court's Probate Auditor will contact the attorney to schedule an uncontested probate docket for the attorney to attend. IV. For an attorney to be found by the Court to qualify to serve as an Ad Litem on the Attorney/Guardian Ad Litem List 1, the attorney must have significant experience in difficult and complex probate and guardianship matters, and/or have experience in dependent or temporary administrations. V. After making a discretionary decision based on the requirements of each case and in accordance with Texas Government Code § 37.004, the Court will decide which Ad Litem List will be used to make the appointment. The Court is statutorily authorized to appoint an attorney out of order or to appoint an attorney who otherwise meets statutory or other legal requirements to serve as an attorney or guardian ad litem in a case, but who is not currently an Ad Litem if the attorney: a. Possesses relevant specialized education, training, certification, skill, language proficiency, or knowledge of the subject matter of the case; b. Has relevant prior involvement with the parties in the case; c. Is in a relevant geographic location; or d. Is chosen by agreement of all the parties. VI. An attorney shall provide the Court an updated State Bar of Texas Certified Attorney Ad Litem Certificate when the prior certificate expires. If the attorney fails to provide an updated certificate prior to the expiration date, the attorney shall be removed from the Lists and be required to again perform all the steps listed in Section III. of this Order. VII. The Court finds that this Order should be implemented in order to serve the citizens of Fort Bend County, and to efficiently and effectively administer the cases filed in Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 1, according to the law. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the above Standing Administrative Order of Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 1 Attorney and Guardian Ad Litem Appointment Lists shall be carried out and implemented by Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 1 and the attorneys serving on the Ad Litem Lists according to the law. Signed on 4th day of January 2023 [signature] HON. CHRISTOPHER G. MORALES, PRESIDING JUDGE, COUNTY COURT AT LAW NO. 1, FORT BEND COUNTY, TEXAS
CAUSE NO. 20-CPR-000001 ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER § IN THE COUNTY COURT LOCAL ORDERS FOR ATTORNEY AND GUARDIAN AD LITEM LISTS FOR PROBATE AND GUARDIANSHIP CASES AND FOR COMPLIANCE WITH TEX. GOVT. CODE § 37.01 § AT LAW NUMBER ONE (1) FORT BEND COUNTY, TEXAS FIRST AMENDED STANDING ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER ON FORT BEND COUNTY COURT AT LAW NO. 1 ATTORNEY AND GUARDIAN AD LITEM APPOINTMENT LISTS On this day, For
Reviewer note: Operative mandatory-language provisions quoted verbatim from the registered document; the full document (sha256 496babb4ad6c…) is the controlling text. Registered twice (TOPICs docs 1087/1231). Text layer cleaned 2026-09-08 (Phase 3g): 1 kerning-split word rejoined; wording untouched. [TRANSCRIBED BY EYE 2026-09-21 (corpus-0920 P12): every page of the registered file (sha256 496babb4ad6c..., 3 page(s), digital layer that failed the machine checks; text taken from the layer and corrected word by word from the page) read against the rendered file; verbatim, source typos kept, stamps/signatures bracketed; the earlier abstract replaced by the full instrument; confidence high. benchpath-tx-corpus0920-p12-2026-09-21]
Standing order of the 109th Judicial District Court for every pending or later-filed case in Andrews, Winkler and Crane Counties: any attorney or self-represented litigant who uses any form of artificial intelligence for legal research or drafting in a case must, before using AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding, sign and submit the court's certification form stating that all language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments and legal analysis created or contributed to by generative AI were verified as accurate by a human through traditional (non-AI) legal sources, and acknowledging responsibility and potential sanctions for their or their co-counsel's failure to comply. Effective immediately; in effect until rescinded or replaced.
Standing order of the 109th Judicial District Court for every pending or later-filed case in Andrews, Winkler and Crane Counties: any attorney or self-represented litigant who uses any form of artificial intelligence for legal research or drafting in a case must, before using AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding, sign and submit the court's certification form stating that all language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments and legal analysis created or contributed to by generative AI were verified as accurate by a human through traditional (non-AI) legal sources, and acknowledging responsibility and potential sanctions for their or their co-counsel's failure to comply. Effective immediately; in effect until rescinded or replaced.