Texas Estates Code 751.031 – Grants of Authority in General and Certain Limitations
(a) Subject to Subsections (b), (c), and (d) and § 751.032, if a durable power of attorney grants to an agent the authority to perform all acts that the principal could perform, the agent has the general authority conferred by Subchapter C, Chapter 752.
(b) An agent may take the following actions on the principal’s behalf or with respect to the principal’s property only if the durable power of attorney designating the agent expressly grants the agent the authority and the exercise of the authority is not otherwise prohibited by another agreement or instrument to which the authority or property is subject:
(1) create, amend, revoke, or terminate an inter vivos trust;
(2) make a gift;
(3) create or change rights of survivorship;
(4) create or change a beneficiary designation; or
(5) delegate authority granted under the power of attorney.
Terms Used In Texas Estates Code 751.031
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
- Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
(c) Notwithstanding a grant of authority to perform an act described by Subsection (b), unless the durable power of attorney otherwise provides, an agent who is not an ancestor, spouse, or descendant of the principal may not exercise authority under the power of attorney to create in the agent, or in an individual to whom the agent owes a legal obligation of support, an interest in the principal’s property, whether by gift, right of survivorship, beneficiary designation, disclaimer, or otherwise.
(d) Subject to Subsections (b) and (c) and § 751.032, if the subjects over which authority is granted in a durable power of attorney are similar or overlap, the broadest authority controls.
(e) Authority granted in a durable power of attorney is exercisable with respect to property that the principal has when the power of attorney is executed or acquires later, regardless of whether:
(1) the property is located in this state; and
(2) the authority is exercised in this state or the power of attorney is executed in this state.