Shelby County Community Property Survivorship Agreement Form

Texas community property does not automatically pass to the surviving spouse. Without survivorship language of record, the deceased spouse's half passes by will or intestacy, and some form of probate usually follows. This form prepares the instrument that changes that outcome for a specific piece of real estate: a community property survivorship agreement under Chapter 112 of the Texas Estates Code.

What the Agreement Does

Both spouses agree in writing that the described property, their community property, is held with right of survivorship. At the first death, the deceased spouse's interest passes to and vests in the surviving spouse, and the whole property becomes the survivor's, by force of the agreement and outside probate. Section 112.053 confirms that an agreement satisfying the chapter is effective and enforceable without any court adjudication, and the chapter makes transfers under it nontestamentary.

This took a constitutional amendment to make possible. Texas added the survivorship option to Article XVI, Section 15 in 1987 so spouses could have automatic survivorship without leaving the community property system, and Chapter 112 now supplies the rules. Section 112.052 requires a writing signed by both spouses and lists the phrases that make the intent unmistakable; this form uses them, providing that the property shall pass to and vest in the surviving spouse and will become the property of the survivor.

Effective When Signed, Recorded for Protection

The agreement is effective between the spouses the moment both have signed. Recording serves a different purpose: the Estates Code protects purchasers and other third parties who deal with the property without notice of the agreement, and recording in the county where the property is located supplies that notice. A recorded agreement with a death certificate is also what a title company ordinarily reviews when the surviving spouse later sells or refinances. The form carries notary certificates for both spouses so it is ready for the county records.

Covering the Second Death

The agreement carries the property to the surviving spouse and stops there. Many couples pair it with a transfer on death deed that names who takes at the second death, so the property passes to the survivor and then to the children or other beneficiaries entirely outside probate.

What Is Included

• The blank form as a fillable PDF, completed on screen or printed and completed by hand
• A plain language guide that walks through every numbered section: what each blank asks, where the information comes from, and what a correct entry looks like
• A completed example showing the entire document filled in for a realistic Texas fact pattern

The document is formatted for Texas recording standards: letter size pages within the dimensions of Local Government Code Section 191.007, body text well above the 8 point minimum, the notice of confidentiality rights required by Property Code Section 11.008 in 12 point boldfaced capitals at the top of the first page, and reserved space on page one for the county clerk's recording stamp. A non-recorded instructions page, removed before recording, describes how an entry that outgrows its space continues on a recorded exhibit page, so the printed instrument stays free of worksheet style captions.

Related Texas Forms

The Texas Transfer on Death Deed (Community Property with Right of Survivorship) is the companion deed for the second death. The arrangement is ended with the Texas Revocation of Community Property Survivorship Agreement.