Texas Estates Code 1161.002 – Standard for Management and Investment of Estate
(a) In acquiring, investing, reinvesting, exchanging, retaining, selling, supervising, and managing a ward‘s estate, a guardian of the estate shall exercise the judgment and care under the circumstances then prevailing that a person of ordinary prudence, discretion, and intelligence exercises in the management of the person’s own affairs, considering the probable income from, probable increase in value of, and safety of the person’s capital. The guardian shall also consider all other relevant factors, including:
(1) the anticipated costs of supporting the ward;
(2) the ward’s age, education, current income, ability to earn additional income, net worth, and liabilities;
(3) the nature of the ward’s estate; and
(4) any other resources reasonably available to the ward.
(b) In determining whether a guardian of the estate has exercised the standard of investment required by this section with respect to an investment decision, the court shall, absent fraud or gross negligence, consider the investment of all the estate assets over which the guardian has management or control, rather than considering the prudence of only a single investment made by the guardian.
Terms Used In Texas Estates Code 1161.002
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Court: means and includes:
(1) a county court in the exercise of its probate jurisdiction;
(2) a court created by statute and authorized to exercise original probate jurisdiction; and
(3) a district court exercising original probate jurisdiction in a contested matter. See Texas Estates Code 22.007 - 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 - Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- 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.
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Person: includes a natural person and a corporation. See Texas Estates Code 22.027
- Ward: means a person for whom a guardian has been appointed. See Texas Estates Code 22.033