How To Apostille Texas
Last Will And Testament
We only need three things from you to complete the expedited Texas apostille last will and testament service process.
First, mail us or drop off your original probated Texas last will and testament documents at our office. The probated last will and testament documents that you submit to us cannot be a photocopy and you cannot fax or email us a copy of your last will and testament to apostille or authenticate.
The Texas Secretary of State will only accept and issue apostille certificates and authentication certificates on original probated Texas last will and testament documents that are physically presented to them not copies.
When we say an “original last will and testament” this means you have an original last will and testament that has already been through the Texas probate court system and signed by a Texas county judge.
Do not send us a Texas last will and testament to apostille or authenticate if it was issued before 1980. Your Texas last will and testament must be issued after 1980.
If not, you must order a new certified copy of your probated last will and testament from the Texas county of where the Will was probated at because the Texas Secretary of State won’t be able to find that old of probate records in their state database.
If your original probated Texas last will and testament was issued between 1980-1999 you have roughly a 50/50 chance that it will be rejected by the Texas Secretary of State because they won’t be able to find that old of probate record in their state database.
With that said we’ve successfully apostilled and authenticated many Texas last will and testaments from the 1980’s and 1990’s that the TXSOS found so we’ll happily attempt to file your Texas last will and testament documents that was issued during these years.
But please be aware if the Texas Secretary of State does reject your Texas last will and testament we will email you a copy and mail you the original rejection letter that the Texas Secretary of State issues on all rejected documents).
You will then have to order a new Texas last will and testament and pay us our full apostille service fee a second time to reattempt to apostille or authenticate your Texas last will and testament for the second time.
Your probated last will and testament cannot be issued from another state or country and it must be issued from the State of Texas.
If your last will and testament was issued from another U.S state other than Texas you can only receive an apostille certification or authentication certification on a U.S last will and testament or any other type of recordable document (birth certificates, death certificates, marriage licenses or marriage certificates, divorce decrees or divorce certificates) from the state in which the document originated and was issued from.
For example, if the person died and had a last will and testament probated in the State of California but they legally resided in Texas you can only obtain an apostille certificate or authentication certificate on a California probated last will and testament from the California Secretary of State. The exact same scenario applies to all recordable legal documents and the 49 U.S states.
Apostille Texas only apostilles probated last will and testament documents at the state government level for the State of Texas but if the country you’re sending your documents to is not a member nation of the 1961 Hague Convention you will need to go through two more legal document filing steps. We can assist you with these two additional steps even if we don’t obtain the state level authentication certificate for you from a non-Texas state.
The second step is to rush file your probated last will and testament documents at the United States Department of State (USDOS) office in Washington D.C but this step can only be done after you have been issued a state level authentication certificate by one of the fifty state secretary of state offices in the United States.
The third step is to rush file your probated last will and testament documents with the foreign country embassy of where your documents are being submitted to in Washington D.C. This final document legalization step can only be done after you have been issued both a state and federal authentication certification on your U.S probated last will and testament.
Either you, an attorney, or a Texas notary public can copy/paste this below notary jurat or acknowledgment verbiage (choose and use only one not both) onto a blank Microsoft Word document (DO NOT print this whole webpage out as is and get it notarized) and attach it to your Last Will and Testament or simply handwrite (print NOT cursive) this state-required notary jurat (first one) or notary acknowledgment (second one) verbiage onto your Last Will and Testament paperwork.
Click on the big PDF icons below that say, “CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD” to instantly download a copy of the notary jurat or notary acknowledgment verbiage that you can print out, sign, and put on or attach to your last will and testament document to receive an apostille.
State of Texas
County of ________________
Sworn to and subscribed before me on the _______ day of ______________ (month) ______ (year),
by____________________________________ (print Will signers name).
____________________________________
(Texas notary public signature)
Or…
State of Texas
County of _________________________
Before me, _____________________________________ (print notary name), on this day personally appeared _________________________________ (print Will signers name), known to me or proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the person whose name is subscribed to the foregoing instrument and acknowledged to me that he executed the same of the purposes and consideration therein expressed.
Given under my hand and seal of office this ____ day of _____________ (month), and _________ (year).
____________________________________
Texas notary public signature
Second email, mail, or drop off at our office a prepaid FedEx or UPS return shipping label (we do not accept air waybills) that you can create and purchase online at FedEx.com or UPS.com without needing to create or have an existing account set up with them. You can also visit any UPS Store or FedEx Office location to purchase a prepaid shipping label as well.
Do not use the United States Postal Service (USPS) because they lose things constantly
(potentially your last will and testament) and are completely unreliable and slow.
The reason we require a prepaid return shipping label is so we can mail your documents back to you or to wherever and whomever in the world that you want your documents shipped to.
On the prepaid return FedEx or UPS shipping label that you must provide us please list the senders (from) mailing address as your name/address or any U.S address because you cannot list our company name or address as the from/sender for liability reasons. Then for the receiver’s address (to) just list the name/address of where and who you want your documents mailed back to.
Click on the below links for easy step-by-step screenshot directions on how to create a prepaid FedEx or UPS shipping label online in only a few minutes.
If it’s an international shipment (USA to another foreign country) please also provide us with a customs invoice (see the two links below to download custom prefilled out for you templates) that shipping companies (FedEx, UPS) will normally require you to include whenever you ship documents internationally to certain countries. If you or someone on your behalf will be returning to our office the following business day to pick up your apostilled or authenticated documents you of course won’t need to provide us with a shipping label.
For the fastest possible turnaround time, we can hand deliver your documents right to your home, office, business or hotel the very same day that we apostilled or authenticated them for an additional courier fee. The courier cost will depend on what city and zip code in Texas you need us to travel to. This is for situations where you don’t have the time to travel back to our office to pick your documents up or you don’t want your documents mailed anywhere.
Third, you will need to download, sign, and email, mail, or drop off at our office our rush Texas apostille service order form that can be instantly downloaded by clicking on the Texas apostille order form button below.
We cannot accept or process your documents by mail, email, or drop off until we receive a properly completed apostille order form from you.
If you will be dropping your documents off at our office in person you must bring this completed Texas apostille order form in with you along with any documents that you want us to rush apostille or authenticate for you or for your company.
When you arrive at our office walk up to our front lobby receptionist desk area and tell them that you have some documents to dropoff for Apostille Texas. Detailed directions and pictures of our office and office building are on our contact us page as well for you to view.
Please also understand your documents will not and cannot be apostilled or authenticated onsite at our office so this isn’t walk-in service.
The only legal and government entity in Texas that can issue apostille and authentication certificates is the Texas Secretary of State office which is where we will rush file your Texas last will and testament at on your behalf.
We must receive your Texas last will and testament by mail or dropped off at our office by noon CST Monday-Friday (excluding all bank and government holidays) to be able to provide you with same day Texas apostille services. If we receive your Texas last will and testament after that cutoff time don’t worry we’ll simply attempt to file it on the next business day.
Lastly, we do not have these Texas apostille order forms available at our front desk receptionist area.
So if you choose to drop your documents off at our office please make sure to print out and bring this Texas apostille order form in with you or alternatively you can email us the completed Texas apostille order form ahead of time.
Texas Apostille &
Authentication
Services Pricing
All Texas Secretary of State government filing fees are included in the $95 price.
Money back guarantee if we don’t attempt to file your documents in the stated time.
Your documents couriered to any shipping center (return shipping costs not included).
Document filing status updates by email or text.
We’re based in Austin, TX, so no middleman for you to go through.
Phone and email support seven days a week.
Additional documents filed at the same time only $75 each.
Same Business Day
Apostille Service
All Texas Secretary of State government filing fees are included in the $95 price.
Money back guarantee if we don’t attempt to file your documents in the stated time.
Your documents couriered to any shipping center (return shipping costs not included).
Document filing status updates by email or text.
We’re based in Austin, TX, so no middleman for you to go through.
Phone and email support seven days a week.
Additional documents filed at the same time only $75 each.
