Requirements that arrive vague and late
A Schedule C item that reads as a sentence fragment, with no indication of what document would clear it or whether the underwriter has already been asked. That is a week lost for no reason.
For probate, real estate, divorce, tax and bankruptcy counsel
Requirements, not runaround.
You do not need a title company to explain your practice area to you. You need it to tell you exactly what its underwriter requires, which document satisfies it, and what it has escalated — early enough to matter.
The real problem
What attorneys actually need from a title company
Everything below is title practice and underwriter requirements. None of it is legal advice, and we are not your client's lawyer.
Schedule B documents that arrive incomplete or illegible
A commitment is not reviewable without the documents it references. Partial packages and unreadable scans are the most common reason a review slips.
Escalations that sit
When the answer depends on the underwriter, the only thing worse than a slow answer is not knowing the question was asked.
Title companies that talk around counsel to the client
It undermines the representation, it confuses the client, and it is a good reason never to send the next file.
How we offer value
How we work with counsel
Four commitments, and the third is the one that matters most.
Attorney-founded, so requirements arrive as requirements
We send the underwriter's actual requirement and the document that satisfies it, not a paraphrase.
We escalate early and tell you what they said
Rather than sitting on a Schedule C item and hoping it resolves itself.
We do not advise your client and we do not take your client
We are not a law firm. WG Law is a separate, independently operated company, and a referral is never automatic or assumed. Your client is yours.
Complete, legible Schedule B packages on delivery
Every exception document, readable, with the commitment — not following separately.
By practice
Five practices, five different sets of requirements.
A probate file and a bankruptcy file have almost nothing in common except that both end at a closing table. Each of these has its own page because each has its own answer.
01
Probate
Muniment of title, an affidavit of heirship and a full independent administration produce very different title positions, and the underwriter treats them very differently. Tell us the path early and we will tell you what will be required to close on it.
- Letters recency and power-of-sale confirmed before the commitment issues
- Heirship path discussed before the property is listed, not after it is under contract
- Realistic timing given per path, so your client is not promised weeks for a months-long process
- Out-of-state executors handled by mail-away as a matter of routine
02
Real estate
A commitment without the instruments it references is not reviewable. The most useful thing a title company does for real estate counsel is deliver a complete, legible exception package promptly and then answer questions about it.
- Full exception package delivered with the commitment, indexed and legible
- Objections escalated to the underwriter and reported back with the actual answer
- Attorney-drafted deeds accepted; we confirm who is preparing what
- We deal with counsel, not around counsel to the client
03
Divorce and family
This is the sub-practice where title problems are created quietly and discovered years later — at a refinance or a sale, when the fix is far more expensive than it would have been during the divorce.
- We review the decree and tell you what our underwriter will require to insure
- Owelty structures reviewed against what has been insurable in past files
- Both-spouse execution requirements confirmed early, not at the table
- We will tell you plainly when the answer needs a probate, because sometimes it does
04
Tax
FIRPTA withholding, exchange sequencing and rollback exposure all resolve at the closing table. A title company that understands what it is being asked to do is worth more here than almost anywhere else.
- FIRPTA analysis raised at file open, not the week of closing
- Exchange documents and QI coordination sequenced correctly
- Rollback exposure flagged from the tax certificates during diligence
- Redemption-period timing confirmed before we are asked to insure
05
Bankruptcy
The stay following an order approving a sale is the most common reason a bankruptcy closing misses its date — not because anyone did anything wrong, but because the calendar was set as though the order were immediately effective.
- The full docket package — motion, notice, order, docket sheet, proof of service — reviewed as a set
- Stay expiration or waiver confirmed against the order before a closing date is promised
- Trustee authority and plan status verified early
- Realistic dates given, because a bankruptcy closing calendar is set by the court, not by us
In development
Can This Seller Convey?
A branching checker for the question a title company uniquely owns: who has to sign, and what document proves they can.
- Branches on how title is held — individual, married, entity, trust, estate, heirs, debtor in bankruptcy.
- Returns who must sign, by role, and the document set that establishes authority.
- Flags the blockers with realistic timing, so a muniment and a full administration are not presented as equivalent.
- Says plainly when the answer requires a lawyer, because often it does.
This one is still being built. Until it ships, our escrow team will walk the same analysis with you on a real file — ask and we will do it.
How the file runs
How a file runs with counsel involved
- 1
Intake
You tell us the matter type and the posture. We tell you what our underwriter will want before you order anything.
- 2
Commitment
Delivered with every Schedule B document, legible, and requirements written as requirements.
- 3
Curative
We work it with you, escalate to the underwriter early, and report back what they actually said.
- 4
Closing
Structured around your client's availability, including mail-away and out-of-state fiduciaries.
Straight answers
The questions we actually get
Including the ones with answers you may not want. We would rather say it here than at the closing table.
Will you give my client legal advice?
No. We are a title company, not a law firm. We explain what our underwriter requires and what title practice is; anything past that is your work, and we will say so.
What is the relationship with WG Law?
WG Law is a separate, independently operated company that shares a family name with us. It is not the same business, referrals between them are never automatic, and nothing you send us gets routed anywhere without your knowledge.
Will you take my client?
No. Attorneys send us files because that does not happen. We deal with counsel, not around counsel.
How quickly can you tell me whether the underwriter will insure this?
Faster if you tell us the posture up front. Most of the delay in an unusual file comes from the question reaching the underwriter late, not from the underwriter being slow.
Do you handle out-of-state fiduciaries and mail-away closings?
Regularly. Executors, trustees and receivers are frequently elsewhere. Tell us early and we will confirm the mechanics for that specific transaction.
What is set by the state, and what is not
Two different kinds of number.
Identical at every Texas title company: the basic title insurance premium and the promulgated endorsement charges. These are set by the Texas Department of Insurance. No company can discount them, and any company implying it can is describing something that is not legally possible.
Set by each company: the escrow or settlement fee, and the incidental charges around it. These are not promulgated, they do vary, and they are the fair thing to compare.
We would rather tell you which is which than let you assume we are cheaper on something nobody can be cheaper on.
The other side of the deal
Every transaction has more than one of you in it.
Home sellers
What you will actually net, which repairs pay you back, and what your agents are worth on your house — before the sign goes in the yard.
What we do for them →Seller agents
The resale certificate, the T-47 and the payoff are what move your closing date. We start all three the day the file opens.
What we do for them →Commercial seller agents
Entity authority and payoff structure take months to fix. Find them before you go to market, not in week six of escrow.
What we do for them →Send us the matter
Tell us the posture and we will tell you the requirements.
Send the matter type and where it stands. We will tell you what our underwriter will want before you order a commitment.