{"id":3610,"date":"2021-07-16T14:50:58","date_gmt":"2021-07-16T19:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hammerle.wpengine.com\/?p=3610"},"modified":"2025-06-18T16:59:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T21:59:07","slug":"trusts-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/trusts-in-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"Trusts in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A Trust is a legal chameleon.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is a Trust<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At its most basic, a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/practice-areas\/estate-planning-probate\/estate-planning\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">trust<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is an agreement by a fiduciary (the trustee)\u00a0 to hold property for the benefit of another.\u00a0 A trust is not a separate legal entity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are three players in a trust \u2013 the settlor (who establishes and sometimes funds the trust), the trustee (who administers the trust) and the beneficiary (who benefits from the trust).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A trust should always be established with a specific objective in mind.\u00a0 A trust may be used to avoid <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/practice-areas\/estate-planning-probate\/probate\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">probate<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, minimize estate taxes, control the use and disposition of property now or after the death of the settlor, protect assets, or provide money while preserving eligibility for government programs for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts-estate-planning\/what-is-a-special-needs-trust-in-texas\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">special needs<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> children and adults.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Trust Code<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Texas has a statutory scheme, called the Trust Code, that applies to express trusts (usually written) that contain property.\u00a0 Among other things, the Trust Code provides default provisions for matters not explicitly addressed in a trust document.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Confusingly, the Trust Code does not apply to constructive trusts (which is a remedy in a lawsuit and not technically a trust at all), resulting trusts (which apply to some situations involving real property) , business trusts (which are considered partnerships) and deeds of trust (Texas\u2019 version of mortgages).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most estate planning involves two types of written trusts \u2013 testamentary (contained in a will) and living (contained in a separate document).\u00a0 The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning-and-probate\/difference-between-a-living-trust-and-an-estate-plan\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">living trusts<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are divided into two other categories \u2013 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts-estate-planning\/funding-of-revocable-living-trusts\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">revocable<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and irrevocable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A trust is a very good tool for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts-estate-planning\/10-most-common-estate-planning-questions\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">estate planning<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It may not be the final answer, but it should at least be discussed when you are creating your estate plan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The attorneys at Hammerle Morris Law Firm are available to discuss your estate planning needs and goals. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/lewisville-attorney\/#form\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Schedule a consultation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with one of our experienced <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/practice-areas\/estate-planning-probate\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">estate planning<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> attorneys today.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Trust is a legal chameleon. What is a Trust At its most basic, a trust is an agreement by a fiduciary (the trustee)\u00a0 to hold property for the benefit of another.\u00a0 A trust is not a separate legal entity. There are three players in a trust \u2013 the settlor (who establishes and sometimes funds [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12271,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1224],"tags":[747,859,905],"class_list":{"0":"post-3610","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-estate-planning","8":"tag-beneficiaries","9":"tag-texas-laws","10":"tag-trusts"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Trusts in Texas - Hammerle Morris Law Firm<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At its most basic, a Trust is an agreement by a fiduciary (trustee) to hold property for the benefit of another. 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