COMMON REASONS FOR CREATING A SPENDTHRIFT TRUST By:Murray-Lobb, PLLC

Nearly all of us have relatives who need extra help managing their income and assets. When we can, we try to find ways to help them. In some instances, you might have a grandson or granddaughter who’s having trouble holding down a steady part-time job during college – or trying to make ends meet after battling a lengthy addiction. Your troubled relative might also be older and starting to struggle with handling all his monthly financial affairs.
Whatever the individual’s special needs may be, you can often help by making the person a beneficiary of a spendthrift trust.
How Should You Define This Type of Trust to the Beneficiary?
You may first want to simply say that, because you greatly care for this individual, you want to remove all or most of her current money management problems from her life. You can then say that you’ve named the person as a beneficiary of a special trust account that will be managed by a trustee. You should then quickly point out that you’ll be personally choosing the exact terms governing the trust so the trustee can properly meet specific needs of the beneficiary.
Should the beneficiary ask if she can personally manage the money, you must be ready to say that you have considered that alternative and prefer to disburse the funds over time. You might also note your desire to prevent the funds from being taken by untrustworthy creditors. (Of course, there are legal exceptions that do allow some creditors to reach these funds, and they’ll be briefly addressed below).
It’s also useful to tell the beneficiary that the funds or property that you’ll be placing in the trust as its creator (grantor) are generally referred to as the trust principal.
What Basic Terms and Provisions Are Normally Included in a Spendthrift Trust?
As your Houston estate planning lawyer will tell you, specific language must be included in the trust document, making it clear that you’re creating a spendthrift trust, in keeping with Texas law. This enabling language is designed to fully protect all the property and funds that you’re placing in the trust from others who might try to illegally reach them. All of this is clearly explained in the Texas Property Code, Title 9, entitled “Trusts.”
Your spendthrift trust language will clearly state that since the beneficiary has no right to directly reach and control the funds – neither can most creditors. Most grantors also include some specific language indicating that they are trying to provide for the beneficiary’s general needs.
As the grantor/settlor you must also clearly state all the trustee’s rights, duties and obligations while administering the trust. The trustee’s job can be a very difficult one, especially if the beneficiary decides to legally challenge the trustee by demanding large sums of money for serious medical, educational or basic living expenses not expressly referenced in the trust.
When Can Creditors & Other Parties Successfully Obtain Funds from a Spendthrift Trust?
The laws in most states allow creditors that can prove that a beneficiary owes them money for basic “necessities” (like shelter or food) to win judgments and collect funds from these types of trusts. Other legal obligations that can be paid out of spendthrift trust funds (once legal action has been taken) include child support, alimony or support of a past (or current) spouse and certain government claims.
When funds are periodically released to a beneficiary, creditors can also try to obtain them based on judgments they’ve obtained. 
Please feel free to contact one of our Murray Lobb attorneys to learn more about the various types of trusts and other estate planning tools that we can draft to meet all your needs, including a spendthrift trust.

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