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Money · 5 мин чтения
Reasonable compensation unless the terms say otherwise
Section 114.061 provides that, unless the terms of the trust provide otherwise, the trustee is entitled to reasonable compensation from the trust for acting as trustee — and that if the trustee commits a breach of trust, the court may in its discretion deny the trustee all or part of that compensation. The instrument comes first: a stated fee, a schedule, a percentage, or a direction that a family trustee serve without pay governs over the default.
Texas sets no percentage and no statutory schedule. Reasonableness is measured by the work: the size and complexity of the trust, the time and skill the administration required, the responsibility assumed, the results, and what comparable trustees charge for comparable work. A trustee who keeps time and task records, and who takes compensation at stated intervals rather than irregularly, has the evidence reasonableness turns on.
Expenses are a different claim
Section 114.063 provides a general right to reimbursement: a trustee may discharge or reimburse himself from trust principal or income, or partly from both, for advances made for the convenience, benefit or protection of the trust or its property, and for expenses incurred while administering or protecting the trust or because of holding its property — and the trustee has a lien on the trust property to secure that reimbursement. Filing fees, appraisals, tax preparation, the attorney the trustee engages for the trust, and the certified mail are expenses, not compensation.
Keeping the two categories apart in the ledger is more than bookkeeping: an accounting under §113.152 must show the source and nature of every disbursement, and a beneficiary reading one will ask which payments were the trustee's fee and which were the trust's costs. A trustee who paid personal expenses from trust funds, or who labeled fees as expenses, has a correction to make before the question is asked.
The court's part, and attorney's fees
Two sections give the court a voice. Under §114.061 the court may deny all or part of a trustee's compensation for a breach of trust — the remedy that most often meets a trustee who paid himself without authority or out of proportion to the work. Under §114.064, in any proceeding under the Trust Code the court may award costs and reasonable and necessary attorney's fees as may seem equitable and just, which can run for or against a trustee depending on how the dispute arose.
Texas has no presumptive fee statute for the attorney a trustee hires, and no mandated fee disclosure; the attorney's fee is an expense of administration if the engagement was proper and the amount reasonable, reimbursable under §114.063 and reviewable by the court in a proceeding. The engagement letter, the invoices and the reason the work was needed are the record a trustee keeps for that review.
Paying yourself without a dispute
Compensation is a self-interested act, and the duty of loyalty the general duty imports (§113.051) asks for care around it. The practices Texas trustees commonly follow are the instrument's method where it has one; where it has none, a written compensation policy adopted at the start of the administration, a time and task log, payment at regular intervals shown separately in the accounting, and — where the amount is unusual or the beneficiaries have questions — a written agreement under §114.032 or a court's approval under §115.001.
None of that is required by statute; all of it is what makes §114.061's "reasonable" demonstrable. A licensed Texas attorney can say what is customary for a trust of a given size in a given county; TrusteeClear's ledger keeps the fee and the expenses in their separate columns and dates every entry.
Законы, дословно
Compensation
§ PR.114.061 ↗Понятное простое объяснение; дословный текст статута ещё не заверен в нашей библиотеке. Смотрите официальный статут по ссылке выше.
General right to reimbursement
§ PR.114.063 ↗Понятное простое объяснение; дословный текст статута ещё не заверен в нашей библиотеке. Смотрите официальный статут по ссылке выше.
Costs
§ PR.114.064 ↗Понятное простое объяснение; дословный текст статута ещё не заверен в нашей библиотеке. Смотрите официальный статут по ссылке выше.
Частые вопросы
How much can a Texas trustee be paid?
What the instrument provides; if it is silent, reasonable compensation (§114.061). Texas sets no percentage or schedule — reasonableness is judged by the size and complexity of the trust, the time, skill and responsibility involved, and comparable practice. A court may deny all or part of the compensation of a trustee who breaches the trust.
Can a Texas trustee be reimbursed for expenses?
Yes. Section 114.063 provides a general right to reimbursement from principal or income for advances made for the trust's benefit and for expenses incurred administering or protecting it, secured by a lien on the trust property. Expenses are shown separately from compensation in a §113.152 accounting.
Who pays the lawyer a Texas trustee hires?
The trust, as an expense of administration, when the engagement was proper for the trust's business and the amount is reasonable (§114.063); in any Trust Code proceeding the court may award costs and reasonable and necessary attorney's fees as it finds equitable and just (§114.064). Texas has no presumptive fee statute for trustees' attorneys.
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