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The statutory probate courts' Court Rules for E-Filing (promulgated by Uniform Standing Order No. 14-AF00014-1 and 2 under TRCP 21; effective Oct. 1, 2014, under Judges Steve M. King and Patrick W. Ferchill and still posted by Probate Court No. 1): all attorney filings are e-filed except original wills and codicils (a copy e-filed, the original delivered to the clerk within three business days with a chain-of-custody re-stapling protocol), trust originals, citation returns, surety bonds, subpoenas, exemplified documents, transferred matters and trial exhibits; sensitive data redacted by the filer (motion to redact for wills), sensitive information (medical certificates, ad litem and visitor reports, criminal-history and APS records) handled as non-public and mental-health and emergency-protective-services filings never e-filed; text-searchable unlocked PDFs with a document footer and a full attorney block; electronic signatures, notarizations and unsworn declarations; lead documents filed separately (never scanned together) with proposed orders as lead documents in the same transaction; cover letters as lead documents for citation, letters and copy instructions; a motion and order required for every private process server; e-service completes on transmission but the three-day notice-of-hearing rule still applies; settings requested and confirmed by e-mail to the coordinators with the requester notifying all parties; contract court reporters and interpreters, cancellations at least 24 hours ahead; vacation notices to the clerk and court; ad litem filings fee-waived; guardianship information letters and guardian-of-the-person reports by non-attorneys; step-by-step checklists for wills, muniments, administrations, heirships and guardianships with hearing documents e-filed three days ahead (Probate Court No. 1 later moved this to five business days by Standing Order No. 17-AF00001-1).
Texas > Tarrant County > Probate Court No. 1 and Probate Court No. 2 — every attorney filing in the probate courts, ad litems, and the non-attorney filers the rules address (guardianship information letters, guardian-of-the-person reports). Probate Court No. 1's Standing Order No. 17-AF00001-1 (Oct. 4, 2017) amended the three-day hearing-document deadline to five business days for that court (composed separately). Coordinator and investigator e-mail addresses printed in the 2014 text are historical.
"These materials constitute the Standing Orders of the Statutory Probate Courts of Tarrant County, Texas regarding the electronic filing of documents in the Tarrant County Probate Courts and will control such filings, to the extent they are not inconsistent with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure or the Local Rules of the Tarrant County Courts concerning the Electronic Filing of Court Documents. … E. Applicability — Except as limited (see below) all documents filed by attorneys with the court are to be electronically filed. II. EXCEPTIONS TO E-FILING — A. Original Wills … B. Electronic Copy to Be Filed — Although the E-Filing Rules at Rule 21(f)(4)(A)(i) provide that original wills are not required to be filed electronically, a copy of the original will is hereby required to be filed electronically with the filing of the application for probate of the will. C. Delivery of Original Will to Clerk — The original of the will must be filed with the clerk within three business days (Rule 21(f)(12)). … The following documents should ALWAYS be filed in paper form: A. Original Wills and Codicils …; B. Trust Agreements — The originals of any trust documents submitted to the court for review, approval, modification or termination (including Guardianship Management Trusts) must be filed in paper form. …; C. Citation Returns; D. Surety Bonds; E. Subpoenas; F. Exemplified documents; G. Matters transferred from other courts; H. Trial Exhibits." "III. SENSITIVE DATA … The burden of redaction of the sensitive data is on the Filer (not the Clerk). … it is incumbent on the Filer wishing for sensitive data to be redacted to file a Motion to Redact with the court … IV. SENSITIVE INFORMATION … C. Proceedings in Which Documents Containing Sensitive Data Must Not Be E-Filed — 1. EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE SERVICES - H&SC § 48.208. 2. MENTAL HEALTH COMMITMENTS … D. Documents Containing Required Sensitive Data Required To Be E-Filed — 1. CERTIFICATES OF MEDICAL EXAMINATION & DETERMINATIONS OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY …; 2. ATTORNEY AD LITEM REPORTS - (Probate Court Two only); 3. GUARDIAN AD LITEM REPORTS …; 4. MODIFICATION, TERMINATION …; and 5. CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD INFORMATION … F. … 1. the clerk must be notified that the document being filed contains sensitive information, not susceptible to redaction. 2. Such documents will be made non-public images. 3. It is the responsibility of the Filer to ensure that all appropriate parties receive copies of such documents." "V. THE FILING PROCESS — A. Document Format … a. Text-searchable portable document format (pdf) …; b. Directly converted to pdf rather than scanned, if possible; c. Unlocked; and d. Compliant with the Technology Standards … 2. DOCUMENT FOOTER — All documents shall have footers identifying the document with page numbers of that document. … 3. ATTORNEY BLOCK — Notwithstanding Tex. Rules Civ. Proc. 57, every document filed by an attorney, whether signed by an attorney or not, shall have an attorney block showing the filing attorney's individual name, with his State Bar of Texas identification number, address, telephone number, email address, and if available, fax number." "C. … 2. A LEAD DOCUMENT … Any document to be file-stamped must be filed as a lead document. … Lead documents are always to be submitted as separate documents and not scanned together. … Note: If more than one Proposed Order is to be submitted, each Proposed Order should be submitted in the same transaction as its respective Motion. The Proposed Orders should be attached as Lead Documents. … Specific Exceptions: 1. An Order Creating a Guardianship Management Trust must have the trust instrument as an integral part of the order …; 2. An Inventory, Appraisement & List of Claims … should be filed as one document with the schedules integrated …; 3. The Attorney Ad Litem's Report in an Heirship Proceeding should have a Distribution Chart as an integral part of the report." "I. Private Process Servers — 1. A Motion and Order for Service by Private Process is required in every instance. No standing orders." "L. E-Service … 2. COMPLETION OF SERVICE - E-Service is complete on transmission … therefore the 'Mailbox Rule' (adding three days to the notice period) does not apply to E-Service. … However, e-filed documents pertaining to hearings scheduled within three days are still subject to the 'three-day rule' of Rule 21(b) …" "VI. E. Setting Procedures … A. Request a setting by e-mail to the Court Coordinator, specifying: … a. style and number of the proceeding, b. date, time, and duration of hearing, c. type of hearing requested, d. other attorneys involved, e. whether a court reporter will be required, f. whether a language or hearing interpreter will be required, g. any other accommodations (disability, etc.), and h. (in a guardianship) that the Court Investigator has audited the case file and approved the case for setting. … C. Notify - It is the responsibility of the Party requesting the setting to notify all other necessary parties (including their own clients, counsel for opposing parties, ad litems and self-represented individuals). 2. COURT REPORTERS AND INTERPRETERS are provided on a contract basis. Parties who request contract services and who fail to appear or untimely cancel the hearing may be taxed with the costs of the contract services. 3. CANCELLATIONS OF HEARINGS should be made no later than twenty-four (24) hours in advance. … Failure to notify the Court of cancelled hearings may result in the cancelling party being taxed with any costs incurred by the county. 4. VACATION NOTICES — A. Notify BOTH the Clerk and the Court of vacation schedules …" "VII. SPECIFIC PROCEDURES: STEP-BY-STEP — A. Probate of Will and Issuance of Letters Testamentary … 4. DELIVER ORIGINAL WILL TO CLERK WITHIN THREE BUSINESS DAYS … 6. COMPLETE HEARING DOCUMENTS (blanks filled in): Proposed Proof of Death and Other Facts; Proposed Order Admitting Will; Proposed Oath. 7. e-FILE COMPLETED HEARING DOCUMENTS (as Lead Documents) three (3) days in advance of hearing date. 8. ATTEND AND PARTICIPATE IN HEARING …" (parallel checklists for muniments of title, court-created independent administrations, letters of administration, heirship — with the $400 attorney ad litem deposit — and guardianships — with the $500 deposit and the court investigator's audit and approval before setting). Appendix One: "No. 14-AF00014-1 and 2 … UNIFORM STANDING ORDER ON COURT RULES FOR E-FILING — Pursuant to the provisions of TEX. RULES CIV. PROC. 21, as amended, the courts hereby promulgate the attached standing orders regarding Court Rules for E-Filing in the Tarrant County Probate Courts. This order is effective as of the date it is entered."
"These materials constitute the Standing Orders of the Statutory Probate Courts of Tarrant County, Texas regarding the electronic filing of documents in the Tarrant County Probate Courts and will control such filings, to the extent they are not inconsistent with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure or the Local Rules of the Tarrant County Courts concerning the Electronic Filing of Court Documents. …
Reviewer note: Own-site instrument (not in the TOPICs registry): text-layer PDF (29 pp, 66,571 chars) read in full 2026-09-06; the operative requirements quoted verbatim, the explanatory commentary, filing-code tables, clerk return-reason table and appendix forms summarized. Issued under predecessor judges; still posted by the current court as its e-filing rules and referenced by its Hearings & Trials page. Composed benchpath-ajr8-tarrant (own-site lane).
Judge Costello's AI section simply restates amended Rule 2.515(d)(2) — the post-AOSC26-12 statewide standard — a compliance model, not a local mandate: signers certify cited authorities exist and are accurately cited, with the rule's own sanctions.
The strongest in-the-wild confirmation of the 2026 statewide AI rule: Judge Bantner's page expressly states his prior AI requirements are REMOVED because of the May 28, 2026 amendment of Rule 2.515 — signing a filing now itself certifies the authorities exist and are accurately cited.