Sec. 552.018. TRUST PRINCIPALS. (a) If a patient is the beneficiary of a trust that has an aggregate principal of $250,000 or less, the corpus or income of the trust is not considered to be the property of the patient or the patient's estate and is not liable for the patient's support. If the aggregate principal of the trust exceeds $250,000, only the portion of the corpus of the trust that exceeds that amount and the income attributable to that portion are considered to be the property of the patient or the patient's estate and are liable for the patient's support.

(b) To qualify for the exemption provided by Subsection (a), the trust must be created by a written instrument, and a copy of the trust instrument must be provided to the department.

(c) A trustee of the trust shall, on the department's request, provide to the department a financial statement that shows the value of the trust estate.

(d) The department may petition a district court to order the trustee to provide a financial statement if the trustee does not provide the statement before the 31st day after the date on which the department makes the request. The court shall hold a hearing on the department's petition not later than the 45th day after the date on which the petition is filed. The court shall order the trustee to provide to the department a financial statement if the court finds that the trustee has failed to provide the statement.

(e) For the purposes of this section, the following are not considered to be trusts and are not entitled to the exemption provided by this section:

(1) a guardianship administered under the Estates Code;

(2) a trust established under Chapter 142, Property Code;

(3) a facility custodial account established under Section 551.003;

(4) the provisions of a divorce decree or other court order relating to child support obligations;

(5) an administration of a decedent's estate; or

(6) an arrangement in which funds are held in the registry or by the clerk of a court.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1020, Sec. 2, eff. June 15, 2001.

Amended by:

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 3.1340, eff. April 2, 2015.

Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 846 (H.B. 2780), Sec. 8, eff. September 1, 2019.