How does property pass outside probate in Texas?

Property passes outside probate when someone else is already named to receive it. That naming is done while a person is living, and it is usually a form rather than a will.

A life insurance policy pays the named beneficiary directly. A retirement account does the same. A bank account can carry a payable-on-death designation, and a brokerage account a transfer-on-death registration.

Real estate has its own version in Texas. The Texas Estates Code provides for a transfer on death deed, which is signed and recorded while the owner is living and passes the property at death without probate.

Joint ownership with right of survivorship works differently but has a similar effect. The surviving owner keeps the property, because the arrangement itself says so.

Each of these depends on the paperwork being correct and current. A beneficiary form that names someone who has died, or was never updated after a marriage or a divorce, is the common failure. A will does not fix it, because these forms are followed first.