SB 648: bill tightens recording rules for deeds and heirship affidavits

Caption

relating to recording requirements for certain instruments concerning real property.

Summary

Stricter county recording for deeds and affidavits of heirship.

The bill tightens the rules for recording deeds and affidavits of heirship with the county. Deeds filed by an attorney, title agent, title company or escrow company keep roughly the current signing and acknowledgment rules, but deeds filed by anyone else must be signed by the grantor, witnessed by two people with both grantor and grantee present, and notarized for the grantor, the grantee and every witness. Affidavits of heirship must also be signed, witnessed by two people, and notarized for the person making the affidavit, every named heir and each witness before the clerk can record them.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB648 · 2024-12-18

SOLD BY

Sen. Royce WestDSenate 23

+ 1 coauthor

ITEM

relating to recording requirements for certain instruments concerning real property.

WHAT IT DOES

Stricter county recording for deeds and affidavits of heirship.

The bill tightens the rules for recording deeds and affidavits of heirship with the county. Deeds filed by an attorney, title agent, title company or escrow company keep roughly the current signing and acknowledgment rules, but deeds filed by anyone else must be signed by the grantor, witnessed by two people with both grantor and grantee present, and notarized for the grantor, the grantee and every witness. Affidavits of heirship must also be signed, witnessed by two people, and notarized for the person making the affidavit, every named heir and each witness before the clerk can record them.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version H · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version H · May 8, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

HISTORY

Dec 18, 2024Received by the Secretary of the Senate
Dec 18, 2024Filed
Feb 3, 2025Read first time
Feb 3, 2025Referred to Business & Commerce
Apr 10, 2025Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
Apr 10, 2025Considered in public hearing
Apr 10, 2025Testimony taken in committee
Apr 10, 2025Left pending in committee
Apr 15, 2025Considered in public hearing
Apr 15, 2025Vote taken in committee
Apr 16, 2025Reported favorably as substituted
Apr 16, 2025Committee report printed and distributed
Apr 24, 2025Placed on intent calendar
Apr 28, 2025Co-author authorized
Apr 28, 2025Rules suspended-Regular order of business
Apr 28, 2025Record vote
Apr 28, 2025Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
Apr 28, 2025Record vote
Apr 28, 2025Three day rule suspended
Apr 28, 2025Record vote
Apr 28, 2025Read 3rd time
Apr 28, 2025Passed
Apr 28, 2025Record vote
Apr 28, 2025Reported engrossed
Apr 29, 2025Received from the Senate
Apr 30, 2025Read first time
Apr 30, 2025Referred to Trade, Workforce & Economic Development
May 7, 2025Considered in public hearing
May 7, 2025Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
May 8, 2025Considered in formal meeting
May 8, 2025Vote reconsidered in committee
May 8, 2025Committee substitute considered in committee
May 8, 2025Recommended to be sent to Local & Consent
May 8, 2025Reported favorably as substituted
May 15, 2025Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
May 15, 2025Committee report distributed
May 16, 2025Comm. report sent to Local & Consent Calendar
May 19, 2025Considered in Local & Consent Calendars
May 21, 2025Placed on Local, Consent, and Res. Calendar
May 21, 2025Read 2nd time
May 21, 2025Passed to 3rd reading
May 21, 2025Nonrecord vote recorded in Journal
May 21, 2025Read 3rd time
May 21, 2025Passed
May 21, 2025Record vote RV#3115
May 21, 2025Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
May 21, 2025Nonrecord vote recorded in Journal
May 22, 2025House passage as amended reported
May 26, 2025House amendment(s) laid before the Senate
May 26, 2025Read
May 26, 2025Senate concurs in House amendment(s)
May 26, 2025Record vote
May 26, 2025Senate concurs in House amendment(s)-reported
May 26, 2025Reported enrolled
May 27, 2025Signed in the Senate
May 28, 2025Signed in the House
May 28, 2025Sent to the Governor
Jun 22, 2025Vetoed by the Governor

FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 117 yea · 24 nay

Senate · 26 yea · 4 nay

Sources

House: Final passage · May 21, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate: Final passage · Apr 28, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

All floor motions and other positions below.

No flags

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Royce West

Donors

Skyview Development LLC$36K Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$20KErle Allen Nye Jr.$15,000

Not tied to this bill.

Sources

The author's campaign account only. Own money and internal transfers are separate on the member page.

Derived itemized flow · Jul 1, 2024 to Jun 30, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Skyview Development LLC$36,332.00

Skyview Development LLC

$36,332.00

Cash: $0.00
Paid by others: $36,332.00
Total: $36,332.00

Other filed descriptions $32,032.00fundraiser $4,300.00

Also funds 0 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 1, 2024 to Jun 1, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Sources

Derived itemized flow · Jul 1, 2024 to Jun 1, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100987569, 101009506, 101058878, 101063137.

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$20,000.00

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$20,000.00

Cash: $20,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $20,000.00

Also funds 137 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 24, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team

Sources

Derived itemized flow · Oct 11, 2024 to Oct 10, 2025. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100987569, 101063137.

Erle Allen Nye Jr.$15,000.00

Money

Missing data does not establish zero giving. Display amounts are rounded.

×

Skyview Development LLC

$36,332.00

Cash: $0.00
Paid by others: $36,332.00
Total: $36,332.00

Other filed descriptions $32,032.00fundraiser $4,300.00

Also funds 0 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 1, 2024 to Jun 1, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Sources

Derived itemized flow · Jul 1, 2024 to Jun 1, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100987569, 101009506, 101058878, 101063137.

×

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$20,000.00

Cash: $20,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $20,000.00

Also funds 137 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 24, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team

Sources

Derived itemized flow · Oct 11, 2024 to Oct 10, 2025. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100987569, 101063137.

Votes6

Senate May 26, 2025

Yea: 26
Nay: 4
Present, not voting: 1
Absent: 0
Excused: 0

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Sources

Senator West moved to concur in the House amendment to SB 648. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 26, Nays 4, Present-not voting 1.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 26 (published)
Nay: 4 (published)
Present, not voting: 1 (published)
Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

House May 21, 2025

Yea: 117
Nay: 24
Present, not voting: 2
Absent: 5
Excused: 1

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

House journal

The shared roll contains conflicting member evidence. Those positions remain conflicting.

Noble is listed as absent in the shared roll and nay in this bill's list. That position remains conflicting.

Sources

Record 3115

SB 648 (Cunningham, Dorazio, Harrison, Hickland, Holt, Hopper, Hull, LaHood, Leo Wilson, Little, Luther, Morgan, Noble, Olcott, Patterson, Pierson, Richardson, Schatzline, Schoolcraft, Shofner, Slawson, Spiller, Toth, and Troxclair - no) (117 - 24 - 2)

Shared roll motion

The following bills which were considered on second reading on the previous legislative day on the local, consent, and resolutions calendar were laid before the house, read third time, and passed by the following record vote (members registering votes and the results of the vote are shown following the bill number). (Record 3115): 140 Yeas, 1 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 117 (published)
Nay: 24 (published)
Present, not voting: 2 (published)
Absent: 5 (derived from named list)
Excused: 1 (derived from named list)

House journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate Apr 28, 2025

Yea: 26
Nay: 4
Present, not voting: 1
Absent: 0
Excused: 0

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Sources

The bill was read third time and was passed by the following vote: Yeas 26, Nays 4, Present-not voting 1. (Same as previous roll call)

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 26 (published)
Nay: 4 (published)
Present, not voting: 1 (published)
Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate Apr 28, 2025

Yea: 26
Nay: 4
Present, not voting: 1
Absent: 0
Excused: 0

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Sources

Senator West moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that CSSB 648 be placed on its third reading and final passage. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 26, Nays 4, Present-not voting 1.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 26 (published)
Nay: 4 (published)
Present, not voting: 1 (published)
Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate Apr 28, 2025

Yea: 26
Nay: 4
Present, not voting: 1
Absent: 0
Excused: 0

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Sources

The bill was read second time and was passed to engrossment by the following vote: Yeas 26, Nays 4, Present-not voting 1. (Same as previous roll call)

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 26 (published)
Nay: 4 (published)
Present, not voting: 1 (published)
Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate Apr 28, 2025

Yea: 26
Nay: 4
Present, not voting: 1
Absent: 0
Excused: 0

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Sources

Senator West moved to suspend the regular order of business to take up for consideration CSSB 648 at this time on its second reading: CSSB 648, Relating to recording requirements for certain instruments concerning real property. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 26, Nays 4, Present-not voting 1.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 26 (published)
Nay: 4 (published)
Present, not voting: 1 (published)
Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Witnesses10

For: 9
Against: 0
On: 1

Names

For

AARP TX1 registration
County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas1 registration
Dallas County1 registration
El Paso County1 registration
Harris County Commissioners Court1 registration
Self; County and District Clerks Assoc1 registration
Self; The County and District Clerks’ Association of Texas1 registration
Texas Association of Builders1 registration
Travis County Commissioners Court1 registration

On

Texas Land Title Association1 registration

Sources

10 parsed registrations across the loaded witness lists.

Derived stock of witness registrations. Repeated appearances count separately. Organizations and self-representation appear as printed.

Senate witness list. Source snapshot 2026-10-20, Central time.

Fiscal

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version H · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version H · May 8, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

How this was graded

Analysis of text version I by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 20, 2026, against the published rubric.

Sources

Texas Senate · Filed Dec 18, 2024

06/22/2025 E Vetoed by the Governor

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · Senate Committee Report · Engrossed · House Committee Report · Enrolled

Data snapshot Oct 26, 2026 at 4:20 AM CDT. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

Coauthors

Adam HinojosaRSenate 27

Companion

HB 4560 by Anchía (identical)

Subjects

Property Interests--Real Property

Text

The text as introduced · 370 words

89R4178 SCR-D

By: West
S.B. No. 648

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to recording requirements for certain instruments

concerning real property.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 12.001, Property Code, is amended by

amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as

follows:

(b) An instrument conveying real property may not be

recorded unless :

(1) if the instrument is filed for recording by an

attorney, title agent, title company, or escrow company that

provides only closing, settlement, or other comparable transaction

services in connection with the transfer of real property, the

instrument [ it ] is signed by the grantor and:

(A) [ and ] acknowledged or sworn to by the grantor

in the presence of two or more credible subscribing witnesses ; or

(B) acknowledged or sworn to by the grantor

before and certified by an officer authorized to take

acknowledgements or oaths, as applicable ; and

(2) if the instrument is filed for recording by an

individual other than a person described by Subdivision (1), the

instrument is:

(A) signed by the grantor;

(B) acknowledged or sworn to by the grantor and

grantee in the presence of two or more credible subscribing

witnesses; and

(C) acknowledged or sworn to by the grantor, the

grantee, and each subscribing witness before and certified by an

officer authorized to take acknowledgements or oaths, as

applicable .

(b-1) An affidavit of heirship may not be recorded unless it

is:

(1) signed by the individual making the affidavit;

(2) acknowledged or sworn to by the individual making

the affidavit and each heir named in the affidavit in the presence

of two credible subscribing witnesses; and

(3) acknowledged or sworn to by the individual making

the affidavit, each heir named in the affidavit, and each

subscribing witness before and certified by an officer authorized

to take acknowledgements or oaths, as applicable.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives

a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as

provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this

Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this

Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

Verdict: No flags

The receipt

SOLD BY

ITEM

WHAT IT DOES

CHARGES

TOTAL

HISTORY

SIGNED FOR BY

Donors

Skyview Development LLC

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

Skyview Development LLC

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

Senate May 26, 2025

House May 21, 2025

Senate Apr 28, 2025

Senate Apr 28, 2025

Senate Apr 28, 2025

Senate Apr 28, 2025

For

On

Companion