What Is The Difference Between A Dependent And An Independent Administration?

Unsure of what’s the difference between a dependent and an independent administration? The biggest difference between independent and dependent administration is that dependent administration is court-supervised while during independent administration you are acting independently of any court supervision.

Video Transcription:

Hey everyone, Kyle Robbins here with the Law Offices of Kyle Robbins.

So what’s the difference between an independent administration and a dependent administration?

Well, in probate, an independent administration means we trust the executor, the person who’s in control of the estate. We’re gonna just have them go to court once and then they can handle everything else without having to go back in front of a judge to get permission. And a dependent administration it means the family is not getting along and so the judge is going to oversee every single step that has to be taken in order to administer the estate whether that’s filing taxes, whether that’s selling a house, whether that’s distributing out the assets to the heirs.

You have to go in person with your lawyer in front of the judge to get permission to take all of those steps in a dependent administration. And for that reason, it takes a lot more attorney’s time, it takes a lot more of the court’s time. So it is a lot more expensive to have to go through a dependent administration. And as far as Texas is concerned, you’re only doing it because the family is not getting along and they can’t agree who they want to administer the estate. So basically Texas says all right, the courts will do it for you. Unfortunately, it’s gonna be a lot more expensive and take a lot more time in that scenario though. So you always want to be an independent administration if at all possible.