Texas 2019 86th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB309 Introduced / Bill

Filed 01/07/2019

                    86R2877 BEE-F
 By: Rodríguez S.B. No. 309


 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 AN ACT
 relating to the fiduciary status of a directed trust advisor.
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 SECTION 1.  Section 114.0031, Property Code, is amended by
 amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (e-1) to read as
 follows:
 (e)  If the terms of a trust give a person the authority to
 direct, consent to, or disapprove a trustee's actual or proposed
 investment decisions, distribution decisions, or other decisions,
 the person is [considered to be] an advisor. An advisor is [and] a
 fiduciary regardless of trust terms to the contrary [when
 exercising that authority] except that the trust terms may provide
 that an advisor acts in a nonfiduciary capacity if:
 (1)  the advisor's only power is to remove and appoint
 trustees, advisors, trust committee members, or other protectors;
 and
 (2)  the advisor does not exercise that power to
 appoint the advisor's self to a position described by Subdivision
 (1).
 (e-1)  Subsection (e) does not prohibit the exercise of a
 power in a nonfiduciary capacity as required by the Internal
 Revenue Code for a grantor or other person to be treated as the
 owner of any portion of the trust for federal income tax purposes.
 SECTION 2.  (a)  Except as specifically provided by a trust
 term in effect before September 1, 2019, the changes in law made by
 this Act apply to a trust created before, on, or after September 1,
 2019, with respect to an action taken or not taken on or after
 September 1, 2019, by a trustee, custodian, or other person with
 respect to the trust.
 (b)  An action taken or not taken with respect to a trust
 before September 1, 2019, is governed by the law that applied to the
 action taken or not taken immediately before September 1, 2019, and
 that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
 SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.