Texas Estates Code 1162.001 – Authority to Establish Estate or Other Transfer Plan
Terms Used In Texas Estates Code 1162.001
- 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 - Devisee: includes a legatee. See Texas Estates Code 22.009
- 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 - 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.
- Person: includes a natural person and a corporation. See Texas Estates Code 22.027
- Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Ward: means a person for whom a guardian has been appointed. See Texas Estates Code 22.033
On application of the guardian of the estate or any interested person, after the posting of notice and hearing, and on a showing that the ward will probably remain incapacitated during the ward’s lifetime, the court may enter an order that authorizes the guardian to apply the principal or income of the ward’s estate that is not required for the support of the ward or the ward’s family during the ward’s lifetime toward the establishment of an estate plan for the purpose of minimizing income, estate, inheritance, or other taxes payable out of the ward’s estate, or to transfer a portion of the ward’s estate as necessary to qualify the ward for government benefits and only to the extent allowed by applicable state or federal laws, including rules, regarding those benefits. On the ward’s behalf, the court may authorize the guardian to make gifts or transfers described by this section, outright or in trust, of the ward’s property to or for the benefit of:
(1) an organization to which charitable contributions may be made under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and in which it is shown the ward would reasonably have an interest;
(2) the ward’s spouse, descendant, or other person related to the ward by blood or marriage who is identifiable at the time of the order;
(3) a devisee under the ward’s last validly executed will, trust, or other beneficial instrument, if the instrument exists; and
(4) a person serving as guardian of the ward, if the person is eligible under Subdivision (2) or (3).