Texas property deeds

Deeds Texas recognizes

How a deed has to be signed in Texas

Texas requires the grantor's signature to be acknowledged before a notary public. No witnesses are required.

Texas document formatting rules

A safe layout for Texas is 8.5 × 11 inch paper with a 2-inch clear space at the top of the first page for the county clerk's stamp, 1-inch margins elsewhere, and no type smaller than 8 point.

• Tex. Loc. Gov't Code § 191.007 requires pages no larger than 8.5 × 14 inches, type of at least 8 points, a clearly identifying heading at the top of page one (after the confidentiality notice), and each signer's name typed or printed under the signature. A page that misses the size, legibility or printed-name standards costs twice the statutory page fee. Small type does not raise the fee, and neither does a missing heading if the confidentiality notice complies. A clerk may not refuse to record a deed for any of these (§ 191.007(k)). Texas sets no margin; the 2-inch top space is county recording-label practice, applied by Deedly.
• Tex. Prop. Code § 11.008(c) requires a NOTICE OF CONFIDENTIALITY RIGHTS at the top of the first page of an instrument that transfers an interest in real property to or from an individual, in 12-point bold or uppercase type.

Texas transfer tax and recording fees

Texas has no state real estate transfer tax. Texas imposes no real estate transfer tax, and the Texas Constitution bars any new one (art. VIII, § 29). This is a genuine advantage for Texas transfers.

Recording fees run about $25 for the first page and roughly $4 per additional page. The state sets $5 for the first page and $4 for each additional page (Tex. Loc. Gov't Code § 118.011). A county may add a records management and preservation fee and a records archive fee of up to $10 each (§§ 118.0216, 118.025), so the total depends on the county: Harris, Dallas, Bexar and Travis charge $25 for the first page and $4 per additional page, and a county that adopts lower fees charges less. Hidalgo and Cameron may add up to $10 more (§ 118.0131).

See how Texas's transfer tax and recording fee compare with other states.

How to hold title in Texas

• Sole ownership. One person owns everything.
• Tenancy in common. Separate, divisible shares with no survivorship. A deceased owner's share goes to their heirs.
• Joint tenancy with right of survivorship. Equal shares; the survivor takes the whole property automatically.
• Community property. Property acquired during marriage belongs to both spouses equally.
• Community property with right of survivorship, usually the best choice for married couples here: probate avoidance plus a full step-up in basis on the whole property at the first death. Both spouses sign the survivorship agreement (Tex. Est. Code §§ 112.051, 112.052).

Where to record a deed in Texas

Deeds are recorded with the County Clerk in the county where the property is located. Texas has 254 counties. Texas lets only attorneys, lenders, title companies and government filers e-record (Tex. Loc. Gov't Code § 195.003(a)); counties of 500,000 or more people may approve other submitters by agreement (§ 195.003(a-1)). If you prepared the deed yourself, plan to record in person or by mail unless your county's website says it accepts filings from the public.

Harris · Dallas · Tarrant · Bexar · Travis · Collin · Denton · Fort Bend · Hidalgo · El Paso · Montgomery · Williamson · Brazoria · Galveston · Nueces. all Texas recording offices

What trips people up in Texas

• Texas has no real estate transfer tax, and its Constitution bars new ones (art. VIII, § 29). Recording a deed costs the county's recording fees, with no transfer tax added.
• Texas homestead rules are strict. Both spouses must sign to sell or mortgage a homestead even when only one spouse is on the title, and separation alone does not change that. The exceptions need a court: a spouse judicially declared incapacitated (Tex. Fam. Code §§ 5.002–5.003) or a court order on a sworn petition (§§ 5.101–5.102).
• Texas offers BOTH transfer-on-death deeds (Est. Code ch. 114) and lady bird deeds. The TOD deed is statutory and predictable. Texas has no lady bird deed statute: that deed rests on common-law life estates, and Texas Medicaid policy recognizes it (HHSC MEPD Handbook I-3100).
• Texas does not imply survivorship. Community property with right of survivorship needs a written agreement signed by both spouses (Tex. Est. Code § 112.052). It can be signed on the deed itself or as a separate recorded agreement.
• Counties such as Harris ask for a 2-inch space at the top of page one for the clerk's recording label. Texas law sets no margin and does not let a clerk charge extra for one (Tex. Loc. Gov't Code § 191.007(a)).
• Texas lets only attorneys, lenders, title companies and government filers e-record (Tex. Loc. Gov't Code § 195.003(a)). Counties of 500,000 or more people may approve other submitters by agreement (§ 195.003(a-1)). If you prepared the deed yourself, plan to record in person or by mail unless your county's website says otherwise.