Trusts

Standing to Request Accounting

Faulkner v. Bost, 137 S.W.3d 254 (Tex. App.—Tyler 2004, no pet.).

 

Mother created a trust naming Daughter as the trustee. Mother then assigned to the trust any interest she might later acquire from her mother (Grandmother). Grandmother later created her own trust which would terminate at her death for the benefit of Mother and her siblings. After Grandmother died, Mother reaffirmed the assignment. Daughter (as trustee of Mother’s trust) sought an accounting from the trustee of Grandmother’s trust.

The appellate court determined that Daughter had standing to bring the accounting action as an interested person as defined by Prop. Code § 111.004(7). Although Daughter was not a named trustee or beneficiary of Grandmother’s trust, she did have an interest by virtue of Mother’s assignment. The court noted that the spendthrift provision in Grandmother’s trust did not negate the assignment. The effectiveness of the spendthrift provision ended when Grandmother died and Mother reaffirmed the assignment after Grandmother’s death.

Moral: An individual may be deemed to be an interested person even though the person is not a named beneficiary or trustee.



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