One of the most common reasons people write a will is to control who does not inherit. Maybe an adult child is estranged, maybe you want everything to go to one person, maybe your family situation is complicated. The Texas rules on this surprise a lot of people: you have broad freedom over your children, but far less freedom than you might think over your spouse.
This guide explains what Texas law actually allows. The short version is that Texas has no forced heirship, so you can disinherit an adult child, but community property law gives your surviving spouse an automatic half share that no will can touch. Let us walk through both, precisely.
Texas has no forced heirship
Some countries and legal systems use "forced heirship," a rule that reserves a fixed slice of your estate for your children whether you like it or not. Texas does not do this. A Texas testator has broad freedom to leave property to whomever they choose, which means you are generally free to leave a child nothing at all.
This applies squarely to adult children. If you want to disinherit an adult son or daughter, Texas law lets you, and a properly made will that does so is enforceable. You do not need to explain your reasons, and you do not need to leave a token amount.
Name them, do not just ignore them. The safest way to disinherit is to say so explicitly rather than leave the person off the list. A clear line removes any argument that you simply forgot about them. In a handwritten (holographic) will, that can be as simple as the clause below.
Template: disinheritance clause
Last Will and Testament
I am intentionally making no provision in this Will for my son, John A. Smith, and it is my intention that he receive nothing from my estate.
Because Texas recognizes the holographic will, a document written wholly in your own handwriting and signed by you is valid with no witnesses and no notary required.1 That makes an explicit disinheritance clause easy to add in your own words. A date is not legally required, and a self-proving affidavit is optional under the same chapter, though it can make probate smoother later.
Your spouse is the real limit: community property
Here is where Texas is strict. Texas is a community property state. Most property that either spouse acquires during the marriage is community property, and your surviving spouse already owns half of it. Your will only controls your own half of the community property plus your separate property. It cannot give away the half your spouse already owns.
You cannot disinherit your spouse from their half of the community property. No matter what your will says, your surviving spouse keeps their existing one-half interest in the community estate. A will can only dispose of the testator's own half of the community property plus the testator's separate property. Trying to "leave" your spouse's half to someone else simply does not work, because that half was never yours to give.
This is why Texas does not need a forced heirship rule for spouses: community property already protects them. A surviving spouse's half is not a claim they have to assert or a share they elect to take. It is ownership they held all along. When you die, the community estate is divided, and their 50 percent stays theirs.2
What you can still direct
Within those limits you still have real control. You can leave your own half of the community property to someone other than your spouse. You can leave your separate property (generally, what you owned before marriage or received during marriage by gift or inheritance) to anyone. So a Texas will can reduce what a spouse receives well below what they would get by default, but it can never reach below their protected community half.
What happens by default if you leave someone out
It helps to compare disinheritance against what Texas does when there is no will at all, because that is the baseline you are steering away from. Texas intestacy rules live in Chapter 201 of the Estates Code.
For community property, if all of your children are also your surviving spouse's children, your spouse keeps the entire community estate. But if you leave behind even one child who is not also your spouse's child, your half of the community property passes to your children instead of to your spouse.3 Separate property is split by a statutory formula between the spouse and the children. These default outcomes are rigid and often do not match what people actually want, which is exactly why a will matters. For a fuller walkthrough of the no-will result, see our guide on dying without a will in Texas.4
Minor children and the homestead
Disinheriting a spouse or a minor child is also limited by family protections that sit outside the will. A surviving spouse and minor children can have rights to occupy the homestead and to certain allowances during estate administration, regardless of what the will says. These protect a roof and basic support, and they operate independently of who inherits title. Practically, this means your freedom to disinherit is fullest with adult, financially independent heirs.
Quick reference: who can be disinherited
| Person | Can you disinherit them in Texas? |
|---|---|
| Adult child | Yes. No forced heirship. Best done with an explicit clause. |
| Estranged relative, friend, ex | Yes. You are free to leave them nothing. |
| Spouse, community property half | No. They already own it; a will cannot reach it. |
| Spouse, your half plus your separate property | Largely yes, subject to homestead and allowance rights. |
| Minor child | Partly. Homestead and family allowance protections apply. |
Making it stick: writing and storing your will
A disinheritance is only as good as the will that carries it. In Texas a holographic will must be wholly in your handwriting and signed, so avoid mixing in typed text or filling blanks on a printed form, which can defeat the "wholly handwritten" requirement.5 Write a clean, unambiguous disinheritance clause naming the person, and sign it.
Storage matters too, because a will nobody can find cannot be probated. Texas has no statewide will registry, but you can deposit your will with the county clerk of your county of residence for safekeeping, and the clerk issues a certificate of deposit.6 Whether you live in Houston, Dallas, Austin, or San Antonio, that option is available at your local county clerk. At minimum, tell your executor exactly where the original is kept.
If you want to put a clear, Texas-valid will in place, including an explicit clause disinheriting anyone you choose, you can create your handwritten will here and then copy it out in your own hand.
Sources
- 1Texas Estates Code Ch. 251 (holographic wills, sec. 251.052; self-proving affidavit 251.101) (statutes.capitol.texas.gov)
- 2How Texas Community Property Law Affects Death Estates (prattattorneys.com)
- 3Texas Estates Code Ch. 201, sec. 201.003 (Community Estate of an Intestate) (statutes.capitol.texas.gov)
- 4Intestate Succession in Texas (nolo.com)
- 5Wills & Directives, Texas State Law Library (guides.sll.texas.gov)
- 6Texas Estates Code Ch. 252, sec. 252.001 (Will Deposit with County Clerk) (statutes.capitol.texas.gov)
About the author
Max Kuch
Max Kuch writes about estate planning, wills and inheritance for Texas Will Template. He gathers the rules from the Texas statutes and the leading public data, then explains them in plain, accessible language so anyone can put their wishes in writing.