Chambers County probate judge admits multiple wills, appoints executors and waives appraisers in routine docket

A Chambers County probate court on a routine docket admitted a series of wills, appointed independent executors or issued ancillary probate and waived appraisers in multiple estates, court records and testimony show.

The actions, taken by a judge on a sequence of uncontested probate matters, covered decedents including Charles Albert Blanchard, Terry Allen Chandler, Billy Bob Orr, George B. Holtzclaw, Nancy L. Money Smith Booth, Glen Joseph Dequeer and Clara Faye Graham. Counsel for the estates repeatedly asked the court to admit wills to probate, appoint nominated executors (often independent executors without bond) and waive appraisers for modest or clear-title estates.

Counsel for the Blanchard matter told the court the decedent died 04/09/2026, that a will dated 05/26/2021 remained in the court’s possession and requested admission of the will and appointment of a stepdaughter as independent executor without bond. In the Chandler matter counsel said the will dated 04/29/2019 nominated both daughters as co-independent executrices, noted one daughter lives out of state and requested that the in-state daughter act as the Texas registered agent for service in the administration.

In the Orr matter counsel presented a self-proving will dated 08/11/1999 and testified that the original could not be located after a search, asking the court to probate the copy and issue letters testamentary; a witness who said they had seen the decedent sign identified the signature and the court admitted the copy.

A separate filing sought ancillary probate for Nancy L. Money Smith Booth based on exemplified probate proceedings from Mercer County, Ohio, because the decedent held mineral rights in Chambers County; counsel asked the court to recognize the out-of-state co-executors for ancillary administration and the court admitted the will for ancillary probate.

Counsel representing the estate of Clara Faye Graham described a two-page copy of a will with missing pages, called multiple witnesses who identified the envelope and the signature, and asked the court to admit the copy as the equivalent of a lost will and to appoint Debbie Edwards as independent executor based on signed waivers from those named in the will. Counsel identified an IRA with approximately $5,000 and a car of modest value; counsel again requested appraisers be waived so the administrator could access modest assets and complete the administration.

Throughout the docket the court handled questions from counsel, received witness testimony confirming signatures and domicile in Chambers County, and admitted the presented wills or copies as requested. The clerk and counsel coordinated procedural items such as renaming a beneficiary to correct spelling and confirming that decedents had not applied for Medicaid after the relevant statutory cutoff dates referenced by counsel.

The judge admitted the wills or copies and authorized letters testamentary or muniments of title as requested in the uncontested matters. No contested probate hearings, objections or formal adversarial testimony were recorded on the docket. The matters are now in the hands of the appointed executors or ancillary administrators for estate administration under Texas probate procedures.

The court moved through the docket without recorded objection; where originals were missing, counsel sought probate of copies or admission as lost wills and the court acted on the evidence presented. Further filings or ancillary administration steps (inventory, claims, or sales) were not detailed on the record and remain to be completed by the appointed executors.