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Employing professionals: §113.018
Section 113.018 provides that a trustee may employ attorneys, accountants, agents — including investment agents — and brokers reasonably necessary in the administration of the trust estate. The fees are expenses of administration reimbursable under §114.063 when the engagement was proper and the amount reasonable. The section also lets a trustee grant an agent powers over trust real property for real-property transactions, with the delegated instruments the section lists.
"Reasonably necessary" is the measure: a trust with a single bank account does not need a team, and a trust with a ranch, mineral interests and a lawsuit may need several. A trustee who documents why each professional was engaged, on what terms, and what they delivered has the record a beneficiary or a court will ask for when the fees appear in the accounting under §113.152.
Delegating investments: §117.011
Section 117.011 provides that a trustee may delegate investment and management functions that a prudent trustee of comparable skills could properly delegate under the circumstances, and that the trustee shall exercise reasonable care, skill and caution in selecting the agent, in establishing the scope and terms of the delegation consistent with the trust's purposes and terms, and in periodically reviewing the agent's actions to monitor performance and compliance. The agent, in turn, owes the trust a duty of reasonable care to comply with the terms of the delegation.
A trustee who complies with those requirements is not liable to the beneficiaries or the trust for the decisions or actions of the agent to whom the function was delegated — the statutory reward for a careful hire and a watched one. The three verbs are the trustee's standing duties: select, define, review. An investment agreement never read again is a delegation without the review the section requires.
What stays with the trustee
The decision to distribute, the reading of the instrument, the accounting to beneficiaries and the duty to keep them informed are the trustee's; a professional can prepare them, not own them. Section 113.051's general duty — good faith according to the terms and the Code — is not delegable, and §117.011 delegates functions, not the office. A trustee who signs what an adviser drafts without understanding it has delegated judgment, which the Code does not permit.
Among cotrustees the rule is narrower still: a cotrustee may delegate a function to another trustee only as the instrument or applicable law allows, and must tell the other cotrustees (§113.085). And an agent's authority over real property under §113.018 is specific to the transaction documents the section names — a convenience for closings, not a general power of attorney over the trust.
Paying for help, and showing it
The fees of attorneys, accountants and agents are reimbursable expenses under §114.063 and appear in the §113.152 accounting with their source and nature; a court reviewing a Trust Code proceeding may award or deny attorney's fees as equitable and just under §114.064. The engagement letter, the scope, the invoices and the work product are what a trustee keeps to show that the help was reasonably necessary and the cost reasonable.
A licensed Texas attorney of the trustee's own choosing is the one professional the Code never requires and most trustees of any size engage; the choice is the trustee's. TrusteeClear organizes the engagement record beside the ledger — who was hired, for what, at what cost, and what came back — so the delegation can be shown to have been selected, defined and reviewed.
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Employment and appointment of agents
§ PR.113.018 ↗Eksplikasyon klè e senp; tèks egzak lwa a poko ateste nan bibliyotèk nou an. Gade lwa ofisyèl la nan lyen ki anwo a.
General right to reimbursement
§ PR.114.063 ↗Eksplikasyon klè e senp; tèks egzak lwa a poko ateste nan bibliyotèk nou an. Gade lwa ofisyèl la nan lyen ki anwo a.
Delegation of investment and management functions
§ PR.117.011 ↗Eksplikasyon klè e senp; tèks egzak lwa a poko ateste nan bibliyotèk nou an. Gade lwa ofisyèl la nan lyen ki anwo a.
Kesyon moun poze souvan
Can a Texas trustee hire an investment adviser?
Yes. Section 113.018 allows a trustee to employ investment agents reasonably necessary to the administration, and §117.011 allows the delegation of investment and management functions a prudent trustee could properly delegate — with reasonable care in selecting the agent, setting the scope and terms, and periodically reviewing the agent's actions.
Is a Texas trustee liable for an agent's mistakes?
A trustee who complies with §117.011 — careful selection, a defined scope consistent with the trust, periodic review — is not liable to the beneficiaries or the trust for the decisions or actions of the agent. The agent owes the trust a duty of reasonable care to comply with the delegation's terms. Whether a given hire met the section is a question for a licensed Texas attorney on the facts.
Who pays the professionals a Texas trustee hires?
The trust, as an expense of administration reimbursable under §114.063 when the engagement was reasonably necessary (§113.018) and the amount reasonable; the fees appear in the accounting under §113.152, and a court may award or deny attorney's fees in a Trust Code proceeding under §114.064.
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