September 2026
Every rule below carries a section number from the Texas Trust Code, Title 9, Subtitle B of the Texas Property Code (chapters 111 through 117), read from the Texas Legislature's official statute publication on September 5, 2026. Texas keeps its own code rather than the uniform one, writes several of its rules more sharply, and — since 2021 — lets a trust run for 300 years. This guide states each rule from the statute and names where Texas differs from what a national article will tell you.
What Texas trust law is
Texas's trust statute is the Texas Trust Code, Property Code chapters 111 through 117. Texas has not adopted the Uniform Trust Code; its code was enacted in 1983 on the foundation of the earlier Texas Trust Act and has been amended regularly since, most recently on perpetuities and on directed trusts. Trust investment is governed by the Texas version of the Uniform Prudent Investor Act in chapter 117. District courts and statutory probate courts have jurisdiction over trust proceedings under chapter 115.
The legal requirements for creating a valid trust in Texas
Section 112.001 lists the methods: a property owner's declaration that the owner holds the property as trustee; a property owner's inter vivos transfer to another person as trustee; a testamentary transfer to another as trustee; an appointment under a power of appointment to another as trustee; or a promise to another whose rights under the promise are to be held in trust for a third person. Section 112.002 requires that the settlor manifest an intention to create a trust; section 112.003 provides that consideration is not required; and section 112.005 provides that a trust cannot be created unless there is trust property. Texas adds a writing requirement that is stricter than the uniform code's: under section 112.004, "a trust in either real or personal property is enforceable only if there is written evidence of the trust's terms bearing the signature of the settlor or the settlor's authorized agent." A trust of personal property alone is also enforceable if created by a transfer to a trustee who is neither settlor nor beneficiary where the transferor expresses the intention to create a trust at or before the transfer, or by a written declaration by the owner that the owner holds the property as trustee (section 112.004(1)–(2)). Notarization and witnesses are not validity requirements for the trust instrument; deeds into the trust follow Texas recording law.
Revocable by default
Under section 112.051(a), "a settlor may revoke the trust unless it is irrevocable by the express terms of the instrument creating it or of an instrument modifying it." The settlor may modify or amend a revocable trust, but may not enlarge the trustee's duties without the trustee's express consent (section 112.051(b)). If the trust was created by a written instrument, any revocation, modification, or amendment must be in writing (section 112.051(c)). The statute prescribes no other method; the trust instrument may.
Contesting a Texas trust, and no-contest clauses
Texas has no statute setting a trust-specific deadline to contest a trust's validity; challenges proceed under the general limitations statutes in the Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Any article assigning Texas a 120-day or six-month rule is importing another state's statute. What Texas does regulate is the no-contest clause: under section 112.038(a), a forfeiture provision is enforceable unless the person who brought the action establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that just cause existed for bringing it and that it was brought and maintained in good faith. Section 112.038(b) preserves the rule that forfeiture clauses are generally not construed to prevent a beneficiary from seeking to compel a fiduciary to perform its duties, seeking redress for a breach, or seeking a judicial construction of the instrument.
The trustee's duties in Texas
Chapter 113 sets the trustee's powers and duties. The trustee holds the powers the instrument grants and those enumerated in subchapter A, exercised in the interest of the beneficiaries. Section 113.051 requires the trustee to "administer the trust in good faith according to its terms and this subtitle," and, absent contrary terms, to perform all the duties imposed on trustees by the common law. The duty of loyalty is enforced by specific prohibitions: a trustee may not lend trust funds to itself, its affiliates, relatives, or business associates (section 113.052), and may not buy trust property from or sell it to those persons except as the code permits (section 113.053). Investments follow the prudent investor rule in chapter 117: reasonable care, skill, and caution, judged on the portfolio as a whole, with a duty to diversify unless it is prudent not to. Section 114.007 limits exculpation: a term cannot relieve a trustee of liability for breach committed in bad faith, intentionally, or with reckless indifference to the interest of a beneficiary, or for profit derived from the breach.
Accountings: the beneficiary's statutory demand
Section 113.151 gives any beneficiary the right to demand a written statement of accounts covering all transactions since the last accounting or since the trust's creation. If the trustee fails or refuses to deliver it on or before the 90th day after receiving the demand, any beneficiary may file suit to compel it. The trustee is not required to account more often than once every 12 months unless the court orders otherwise. Section 113.152 prescribes the contents: all trust property that has come to the trustee's knowledge or possession and not previously listed; a complete account of receipts, disbursements, and other transactions, with principal and income shown separately; a listing of all property being administered with an adequate description; the cash balance and where it is kept; and all known liabilities. Texas's accounting right is more specific than the uniform code's general duty to inform, and it is the beneficiary's principal tool.
Appointing, removing, and replacing a trustee
A trustee may resign under section 113.081 in accordance with the trust instrument or by petitioning the court for permission. A trustee may be removed under section 113.082 in accordance with the instrument, or, on the petition of an interested person and after hearing, by the court in its discretion, if the trustee materially violated or attempted to violate the terms of the trust with a resulting material financial loss, became incapacitated or insolvent, failed to make an accounting required by law or by the trust, or for other cause the court finds; the court may also deny part or all of the trustee's compensation. Successor trustees are selected by the method the instrument prescribes and otherwise appointed by the court under section 113.083.
Spendthrift protection and its exceptions
Section 112.035 validates spendthrift provisions and allows a settlor to create one by simply declaring the trust to be a "spendthrift trust." A settlor who is also a beneficiary gets no spendthrift protection against the settlor's own creditors as to the settlor's interest (section 112.035(d)); Texas does not recognize self-settled asset-protection trusts. The statute contains detailed rules on when a beneficiary who holds a power of withdrawal or serves as trustee is treated as a settlor, and on the treatment of a beneficiary's interest after a distribution becomes due.
How long a Texas trust can last: the 300-year rule
Section 112.036 sets the rule against perpetuities for trusts. For a trust whose effective date is on or after September 1, 2021, an interest must vest, if at all, not later than the later of 300 years after the effective date or 21 years after some life in being at the effective date plus a period of gestation (section 112.036(c)(1)). For earlier trusts the traditional lives-in-being-plus-21-years rule applies, unless the instrument opts into the new period as section 112.036(d) allows. The effective date is the date the governing instrument becomes irrevocable as to that interest. Texas therefore permits a very long-term trust, though not the perpetual one available in a handful of states.
Certification of trust
Under section 114.086 a trustee may provide a certification of trust to a person other than a beneficiary instead of the instrument, stating that the trust exists and the date it was executed, the settlor's identity, the identity and mailing address of the acting trustee, the trustee's powers, the revocability of the trust and who holds a power to revoke, the signature authority of cotrustees, and how title should be taken. It may be signed or otherwise authenticated by any trustee, must state that the trust has not been revoked, modified, or amended in any manner that would make its representations incorrect, and need not contain the dispositive terms. A recipient may require excerpts of the instrument that designate the trustee and confer the relevant power.
What assets should not be placed in a Texas trust, and taxes
The code publishes no list of excluded assets. Retirement accounts pass by beneficiary designation; vehicles and small accounts are commonly left out. A Texas homestead may be held in a qualifying trust without losing the homestead exemption or homestead protections, provided the trust instrument meets the Tax Code's and Property Code's qualifying-trust requirements — a point to confirm before funding. Texas imposes no state estate tax and no inheritance tax; the only transfer tax that can reach a Texas trust is the federal estate tax on estates above the federal exemption. The "7-year rule" in many search results is a United Kingdom inheritance-tax concept and is not Texas law.
Types of trusts used in Texas estate plans
A revocable living trust is the working instrument of most Texas estate plans; the trust document names a successor trustee, and the trust's assets pass at death without probate court administration. Because Texas offers an efficient independent administration of estates, some Texans plan with a will alone; the trust earns its place where privacy, incapacity planning, or out-of-state real property matters. Irrevocable trusts trade the power to revoke for creditor or tax positioning, subject to section 112.035(d). Testamentary trusts are created by will. Special needs trusts preserve public benefits. Texas also recognizes directed trusts and trusts for the care of animals. Whatever the type, sections 112.001 through 112.005 and the section 112.004 writing rule apply to all of them.
Trust administration after a death
The successor trustee takes office under the instrument or section 113.083, confirms that assets were actually transferred, keeps beneficiaries informed, answers section 113.151 demands within 90 days, invests under chapter 117, and distributes according to the terms of the trust. Administration is private unless a party invokes the court's chapter 115 jurisdiction.
Frequently asked questions
Does a Texas trust have to be in writing? With narrow exceptions for certain personal-property transfers, yes: written terms signed by the settlor (section 112.004).
Is a Texas trust revocable if it does not say? Yes. Silence means revocable (section 112.051).
How long does a trustee have to answer an accounting demand? Ninety days (section 113.151).
Does a revocation have to be in writing? If the trust was created by a written instrument, yes (section 112.051(c)); the statute prescribes no other method, so the trust instrument controls.
Where Texas differs from the Uniform Trust Code
- A signed writing is required for trusts of real and personal property alike (section 112.004); the uniform code permits oral trusts on clear and convincing evidence.
- No trust-contest limitations statute; the no-contest clause is governed by section 112.038's just-cause and good-faith rule.
- A statutory accounting demand with a 90-day response deadline (section 113.151).
- A 300-year perpetuities period for trusts effective on or after September 1, 2021 (section 112.036).
- The certification of trust may be signed by any one trustee and carries no acknowledgment requirement (section 114.086).
Other states in this series
- California trust law, verified
- Florida trust law, verified
- Georgia trust law, verified
- New York trust law, verified
- South Carolina trust law, verified
Verified sources
All sections were read from the Texas Legislature's official statute publication (statutes.capitol.texas.gov, document files PR.112, PR.113, PR.114, and PR.117) on September 5, 2026. Each carries its own history line on that publication: sections 112.001 through 112.005, 112.051, 113.051, 113.053, 113.081 through 113.083, 113.151, and 113.152 were enacted by Acts 1983, 68th Leg., ch. 567, effective January 1, 1984; section 114.007 was added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 148, effective January 1, 2006; section 112.038 was added by Acts 2009, ch. 414 and last amended by Acts 2017, ch. 62, effective September 1, 2017; section 112.036 carries the 2021 amendment establishing the 300-year period for trusts effective on or after September 1, 2021. Readers who need the verbatim text with source line for any section can request the Trust Statute Service research package for Texas.
This guide states the statute. It is not legal advice for any particular trust, and it does not replace counsel where a dispute, homestead, a tax question, or an unusual asset is involved.