Texas Property Code 114.001 – Liability of Trustee to Beneficiary
(a) The trustee is accountable to a beneficiary for the trust property and for any profit made by the trustee through or arising out of the administration of the trust, even though the profit does not result from a breach of trust; provided, however, that the trustee is not required to return to a beneficiary the trustee’s compensation as provided by this subtitle, by the terms of the trust instrument, or by a writing delivered to the trustee and signed by all beneficiaries of the trust who have full legal capacity.
(b) The trustee is not liable to the beneficiary for a loss or depreciation in value of the trust property or for a failure to make a profit that does not result from a failure to perform the duties set forth in this subtitle or from any other breach of trust.
Terms Used In Texas Property Code 114.001
- 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
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
- Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Signed: includes any symbol executed or adopted by a person with present intention to authenticate a writing. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
(c) A trustee who commits a breach of trust is chargeable with any damages resulting from such breach of trust, including but not limited to:
(1) any loss or depreciation in value of the trust estate as a result of the breach of trust;
(2) any profit made by the trustee through the breach of trust; or
(3) any profit that would have accrued to the trust estate if there had been no breach of trust.
(d) The trustee is not liable to the beneficiary for a loss or depreciation in value of the trust property or for acting or failing to act under § 113.025 or under any other provision of this subtitle if the action or failure to act relates to compliance with an environmental law and if there is no gross negligence or bad faith on the part of the trustee. The provision of any instrument governing trustee liability does not increase the liability of the trustee as provided by this section unless the settlor expressly makes reference to this subsection.
(e) The trustee has the same protection from liability provided for a fiduciary under 42 U.S.C. § 9607(n).