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Policy of the Hopkins County judges for heirship proceedings: citation by publication is required in every heirship proceeding, in the county of filing and the county of the decedent's last residence; citation by registered or certified mail on each distributee aged 12 or older, or the parent, managing conservator or guardian of a younger one; the court may require personal service; an attorney ad litem is appointed in every heirship proceeding, with seven listed duties from reviewing the pleadings to submitting a proposed order for payment and discharge; at filing the applicant's attorney deposits $500.00 into the registry of the court and e-files a proposed order appointing the attorney ad litem with the name left blank, and cooperates with the ad litem; no proposed order determining heirship may be submitted until citation is accomplished and the ad litem's report is filed.
Texas > Tenth Administrative Judicial Region > Hopkins County > the Constitutional County Court and the County Court-at-Law. Applies to heirship proceedings filed on or after April 1, 2023.
HOPKINS COUNTY POLICY IN ALL CASES REQUIRING A DETERMINATION OF HEIRSHIP Effective for cases filed on or after April 1, 2023. Background. Generally, when a person dies intestate, an ownership interest in the decedent's property vests in the decedent's heirs immediately upon death. See Tex. Est. Code 101.001(a)(3). The vesting of this interest does not, however, generate any documentary evidence identifying the decedent's heirs or the property to which they are entitled. To establish who the heirs are and the property which they are entitled to, a person must apply for a judicial determination of heirship. See Tex. Est. Code 202.001. Once a judgment declaring heirship has been obtained, third parties can rely on it and are protected in their dealings with the estate's personal representative or the decedent's heirs. See Tex. Est. Code 202.204. Service of Citation by Publication. Citation must be published in both the county where the proceeding is commenced and the county of the decedent's last residence (if different). See Tex. Est. Code 202.052. Citation by publication is required in all heirship proceedings, even if there is no evidence that an unknown heir exists. See Tex. Atty. Gen. Op. No. KP-0074. Service of Citation by Mail. Citation in a proceeding to declare heirship must be served by registered or certified mail on (1) each distributee who is 12 years of age or older and whose name and address are known or can be ascertained through the exercise of reasonable diligence and (2) the parent, managing conservator, or guardian of each distributee who is younger than 12 years of age if the name and address of the parent, managing conservator, or guardian are known or can be reasonably ascertained. Tex. Est. Code. 202.051. Personal Service of Citation. The court may in its discretion require that service of citation be made by personal service on some or all of those named as distributes in the application for proceeding to declare heirship. Tex. Est. Code 202.054. Attorney Ad Litem. An attorney ad litem is required in all heirship proceedings. Texas Estates Code 202.009 mandates that the court "shall appoint an attorney ad litem in a proceeding to declare heirship to represent the interests of heirs whose names or locations are unknown." The attorney ad litem's duties are as follows: 1. Review all relevant pleadings and citations; 2. Communicate with the applicant's attorney as appropriate; 3. Independently investigate whether potential unknown heirs exist; 4. File an answer on behalf of their clients; 5. Submit a letter to the court with their findings; 6. Attend any hearings (this will generally be done remotely); 7. Submit a proposed order for payment/discharge upon completion of duties. Applicant's attorney. It shall be the responsibility of the applicant's attorney, at the time of filing the initial pleading in the heirship proceeding, to (1) deposit $500.00 into the registry of the court and (2) e-file a proposed order appointing the attorney ad litem (name left blank). The applicant's attorney shall promptly communicate with and fully cooperate with the court-appointed attorney ad litem in the heirship investigation. Proposed Orders. Until required citation has been accomplished and the attorney ad litem has filed their report with the court, no attorney may submit a proposed order to the court which would have the effect of determining heirship or otherwise deciding the issue on the merits. Signed on March 22, 2023. [signature] HON. ROBERT NEWSOM HOPKINS COUNTY JUDGE [signature] HON. CLAY HARRISON JUDGE, HOPKINS COUNTY COURT-AT-LAW [File stamp, set diagonally across the upper right corner: FILED at 11:00 o'clock A.M., MAR 23 2023, Tracy Smith, County Clerk, Hopkins County, Texas]
HOPKINS COUNTY POLICY IN ALL CASES REQUIRING A DETERMINATION OF HEIRSHIP Effective for cases filed on or after April 1, 2023. Background. Generally, when a person dies intestate, an ownership interest in the decedent's property vests in the decedent's heirs immediately upon death. See Tex. Est. Code 101.001(a)(3). The vesting of this interest does not, however, generate any documentary evidence
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-09-19 (AJR-10 Tenth Region build) from BenchPath custody sources/registered/1309.pdf (application/pdf, 123769 bytes, sha256 7ce1a2eb0e8c24e694b40e997112d38e04e4b0c1cb0da5cfc6510bd01cf74457; 2 pages) - the TOPICs-registered document: transcribed by eye from the rendered pages of the scanned PDF (no text layer in the file was relied on), machine OCR draft corrected page by page; signature and file-stamp blocks bracketed. Two-page image-only PDF typed from the rendered pages with a machine draft as a check; the file stamp lies diagonally across the title. Printed as on the instrument: "those named as distributes", "Tex. Est. Code. 202.051". Also posted on the county's own website: https://www.hopkinscountytx.org/upload/page/3013/standing_order__determination_of_heirship.pdf (123,769 bytes, sha256 8ba6def7fc2a866a...; the same signed policy with the County Clerk's file stamp of March 23, 2023 - read 2026-09-20).
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.