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The Local Rules of the Statutory Probate Courts of Tarrant County (dated Aug. 10, 1993; approved by the Supreme Court of Texas, Misc. Docket No. 93-0187, on a temporary basis; posted by Probate Court No. 1 under "Court Policies"), standing orders of both probate courts: pro se parties bound as counsel (1.02); case assignment equalized between the two courts with related cases to the prior court and an "A" suffix for ancillary matters (1.03); transfers between the probate courts by agreement of the judges, and § 5B transfers from district or county courts on motion (1.04); bankruptcy notice within three days (1.06); all papers filed with the Clerk, proposed orders presented after filing with ten days for objection unless approved by all counsel (1.07); conflicting-setting priorities with mental-health cases preferentially set (1.08); vacations, judicial absences, one-year dismissal dockets (1.09–1.11); attorney ad litem notice, reports and security for costs (1.12); Part 2 contested and ancillary matters — ADR referral, docket control orders, trial settings on 45 days' notice with 7-day objections, continuance motions five days before trial, dilatory pleas heard 30 days out, single second settings, exchange of witness/exhibit lists and video designations, certificate-of-conference motion practice, deposition guidelines (Tarrant County depositions, expert fees, ten-day notice presumption), ex parte certificates, and private process servers.
Texas > Tarrant County > Probate Court No. 1 and Probate Court No. 2 — every probate, guardianship, mental-health and ancillary proceeding; attorneys, attorneys ad litem and pro se parties alike (Rule 1.01(d)). Approved by Judges Robert M. Burnett (Probate Court No. 1) and Patrick W. Ferchill (Probate Court No. 2) and the presiding statutory probate judge in 1993; posted today by Probate Court No. 1 as "Local Rules of Statutory Probate Courts."
Rule 1.01(a): "These rules are the Local Rules of Statutory Courts of Tarrant County, Texas. They shall govern proceedings in the Statutory Probate Courts of Tarrant County, Texas"; (c) "These rules are standing orders of all Probate County Courts of this county, now existing or as may be created hereafter. Knowing or intentional violation of these rules may be punished by contempt or other sanction …"; (d) "'Counsel' as used in these Rules includes attorneys, attorneys ad litem and parties representing themselves pro se." Rule 1.03(a): "All matters filed in the Probate Courts of Tarrant County, Texas, shall be assigned a number and a court so as to equalize the cases between the Probate Courts … Once a case number has been assigned and docketed to a particular Probate Court, all matters relating thereto, including but not limited to, any subsequent proceedings upon a testamentary trust or bills of review, shall remain in that court using the same cause number." (b): ancillary matters carry the cause number "followed by the letter 'A'" (then B, C …) and are styled with the party names and the estate; "'Ancillary matters' shall include any lawsuit brought by or against a personal representative, or brought on behalf of an estate, and which lawsuit does not relate to or concern the routine administration of an estate." Rule 1.04(a): transfers between the probate courts are requested by counsel in charge, who must "obtain the agreement of the judges of the courts from which the transfer is sought and to which the case will be transferred"; (b) counsel is "encouraged to seek a transfer pursuant to this Rule, before filing a motion for recusal or disqualification"; § 5B transfers from district, county or statutory courts require "a proper motion and order." Rule 1.06: counsel must "promptly notify the affected court(s) by immediately telephoning the Court Administrator; and … within three days of any bankruptcy filing … provide written notice" and notify the Court Administrator when the bankruptcy concludes. Rule 1.07: "(a) All pleadings, motions, notices, briefs, proposed orders, proposed judgements, and any other paper, document or thing made a part of the record shall be filed with the Clerk. (b) All proposed orders and judgments shall be presented to the court after filing, and the presenting Counsel shall either (1) obtain approval of said proposed order or judgment by all other Counsel, or (2) shall send a copy of the proposed order or judgment to all Counsel … If the court receives no objection within ten (10) days after notification, the court may act on such proposed order or judgment." Rule 1.08: trials on the merits over hearings; all proceedings over depositions; other conflicts under Eighth Region Rule 10, with "Mental Health Cases … treated as preferentially set cases." Rule 1.11: each court "may set for dismissal … all pending matters … which are not set for trial or hearing, and which have been on file for at least one (1) year," with Rule 165a/306a notice. Rule 1.12: an attorney ad litem "shall be notified of all hearings and/or conferences with the court, and shall be served with all pleadings" until dismissed, "shall file a written report with the Court," and should consider an application for security for costs. Rule 2.01(c): trial settings on written or oral request (oral requests confirmed in writing to all counsel), "no sooner than 45 days from the date of request, unless leave of court is obtained, or all Counsel agree"; objections within 7 days with a hearing; (d) a good-faith time estimate, sanctions for bad-faith misrepresentation. Rule 2.02(a): "any motion for continuance will be filed no later than five (5) days preceding the trial or hearing date"; (b) agreed continuances and settlements must be reported to the court immediately. Rule 2.03: dilatory pleas heard "at least 30 days prior to the trial date" or waived; contested and ancillary matters specially set with one second setting; witness lists, exhibit lists, motions in limine, charge requests or findings delivered when the parties report for trial; videotapes tendered in time for pre-trial objections. Rule 2.04(b): no motion set for hearing without the certificate — "A conference was held on (date) with (name of opposing Counsel) on the merits of this motion. Agreement could not be reached. Therefore, it is presented to the court for determination." or "A conference was not held with (name of opposing Counsel) on the merits of this motion because (explanation of inability to confer)." Rule 2.05: Tarrant County depositions for parties; expert deposition fees paid by the requesting party at the expert's hourly rate; "Notice of less than ten (10) days under Rules 21a and 200 … shall be presumed to be unreasonable"; a conference recital in every notice of deposition. Rule 2.06: no application presented until filed and assigned; first to the assigned judge, then any other statutory probate judge; ex parte certificates on representation of the opposing party. Rule 2.07: private process servers are officers of the court; appointing orders require counsel's certificate (18 or older, not a party, no interest).
Rule 1.01(a): "These rules are the Local Rules of Statutory Courts of Tarrant County, Texas. They shall govern proceedings in the Statutory Probate Courts of Tarrant County, Texas"; (c) "These rules are standing orders of all Probate County Courts of this county, now existing or as may be created hereafter. Knowing or intentional violation of these rules may be punished by contempt or other sancti
Reviewer note: Own-site instrument (not in the TOPICs registry): text-layer PDF (25 pages incl. the Supreme Court order and three appendices; 27,783 chars) read in full 2026-09-06; provisions quoted verbatim (statutory references are to the pre-2014 Probate Code as printed). Companion scan Local-Rules-93.pdf on the same page is the image-only print. Composed benchpath-ajr8-tarrant (own-site lane).
Establishes a Traffic Violations Bureau within the Clerk of the County Court under Fla. R. Traf. Ct. 6.100(a) (Burnstein, C.J., Nov. 1, 1988).
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