Texas Estates Code 456.002 – Authority to Designate Lawyer On Certain Trust or Escrow Accounts
(a) When administering the estate of a deceased lawyer who established one or more trust or escrow accounts for client funds or the funds of third persons that are in the lawyer’s possession in connection with representation as required by the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, the personal representative may hire through written agreement a lawyer authorized to practice in this state to:
(1) be the authorized signer on the trust or escrow account;
(2) determine who is entitled to receive the funds in the account;
(3) disburse the funds to the appropriate persons or to the decedent‘s estate; and
(4) close the account.
(b) If the personal representative is a lawyer authorized to practice in this state, the personal representative may state that fact and disburse the trust or escrow account funds of a deceased lawyer in accordance with Subsection (a).
Terms Used In Texas Estates Code 456.002
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
- Estate: means a decedent's property, as that property:
(1) exists originally and as the property changes in form by sale, reinvestment, or otherwise;
(2) is augmented by any accretions and other additions to the property, including any property to be distributed to the decedent's representative by the trustee of a trust that terminates on the decedent's death, and substitutions for the property; and
(3) is diminished by any decreases in or distributions from the property. See Texas Estates Code 22.012 - in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by writing, printing, or other means. See Texas Government Code 312.011
- personal representative: include :
(1) an executor and independent executor;
(2) an administrator, independent administrator, and temporary administrator; and
(3) a successor to an executor or administrator listed in Subdivision (1) or (2). See Texas Estates Code 22.031 - Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(c) An agreement under Subsection (a) or a statement under Subsection (b) must be made in writing, and a copy of the agreement or statement must be delivered to each eligible institution in which the trust or escrow accounts were established.