Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 37.005 – Declarations Relating to Trust or Estate
Terms Used In Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 37.005
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
- Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Legatee: A beneficiary of a decedent
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
A person interested as or through an executor or administrator, including an independent executor or administrator, a trustee, guardian, other fiduciary, creditor, devisee, legatee, heir, next of kin, or cestui que trust in the administration of a trust or of the estate of a decedent, an infant, mentally incapacitated person, or insolvent may have a declaration of rights or legal relations in respect to the trust or estate:
(1) to ascertain any class of creditors, devisees, legatees, heirs, next of kin, or others;
(2) to direct the executors, administrators, or trustees to do or abstain from doing any particular act in their fiduciary capacity;
(3) to determine any question arising in the administration of the trust or estate, including questions of construction of wills and other writings; or
(4) to determine rights or legal relations of an independent executor or independent administrator regarding fiduciary fees and the settling of accounts.