A record of what one executor had to work out about Texas probate, kept public so the next person can compare numbers and procedures before making the first call.
Two firms quote the same estate, and the numbers land in different universes: one letter names a single figure for the whole probate, the other names an hourly rate and asks for a deposit against it. The instinct is to compare the two figures. That comparison is close to meaningless until you have read the scope paragraph in each document, because the flat fee and the hourly rate are almost never being charged for the same list of tasks. The interesting differences sit two or three paragraphs below the price.
Read the scope paragraph before the number
A Texas flat fee for an independent administration usually covers a defined sequence: preparing and filing the application, the hearing on the will and appointment, the order, the oath, letters testamentary, the notice to creditors published in a newspaper, the notices mailed to secured creditors, and the inventory, appraisement and list of claims or the affidavit in lieu of it. What it typically does not cover is anything contested, anything involving a beneficiary who will not sign, and anything requiring a second application. The hourly letter often has no scope paragraph at all, which is not automatically worse; it means the scope is whatever the estate turns out to need.
Where an hourly bill actually accumulates
Look for three things in the hourly agreement: the rate table, the billing increment, and the staffing rule. Many letters list a partner rate, an associate rate, and a paralegal rate, and a probate that runs smoothly is largely paralegal work, so the blended rate matters far more than the top rate. The billing increment is usually a tenth of an hour, sometimes a quarter, and a quarter-hour minimum applied to a dozen short phone calls is a real number. Ask which tasks are billed by whom, and whether travel to the courthouse is billed at the full rate or half.
The edges of a flat fee, and what pushes you past them
The useful question for a flat-fee letter is what happens on the day the estate stops being routine. A missing original will, an heir whose address nobody has, real property in a second county, a bank that refuses letters more than sixty days old, a claim filed by a nursing facility, a small business interest that needs valuing: each of these is a plausible complication, and the agreement should say whether it triggers an hourly rate, a stated supplemental fee, or a new engagement. A good letter names the likely triggers plainly. A letter that stays silent has not eliminated the extra work, only the discussion about who pays for it.
Fees, costs, and who is on the hook
Every engagement letter separates the firm's fee from costs advanced, and the second category is where an apparently all-in quote develops a tail: the district clerk's filing fee, the newspaper publication charge, certified copies of letters testamentary, courthouse recording fees for a deed or an affidavit of heirship, a court-appointed attorney ad litem if unknown heirs must be represented, and postage for certified mail to beneficiaries. Read whether the firm advances these and bills them back, or expects you to write the checks. Then find the sentence about liability. If you sign as executor and the letter also binds you individually, you are the client, and reimbursement from the estate is a separate step you will have to justify to the beneficiaries.
The clauses nobody reads and later wishes they had
Both letters will have a termination provision, and the flat-fee version needs a refund formula: if you part ways after the hearing but before the inventory, what portion is earned? Check whether unpaid balances accrue interest, whether the firm may withhold the file, and how disputes over the bill are resolved. Check who signs the estate's federal filings and whether tax work is excluded, since the final Form 1040 and any Form 1041 for the estate fall under the IRS, which is responsible for those returns, and many probate letters carve tax preparation out entirely. Confirm in writing who is expected to gather account statements and appraisals, because that division of labor is the single largest driver of the final bill.
The comparison worth making is not flat against hourly. It is the two scope paragraphs against each other, priced for the estate you actually have, with the complications you can already see named on the page. Ask each firm to mark up its own letter with the answers, and keep the marked copies with the will.