By: Casteel (Senate Sponsor - Wentworth) H.B. No. 1501
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 11, 2005;
April 12, 2005, read first time and referred to Committee on
Jurisprudence; May 5, 2005, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 5, 2005, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority of a guardian of the estate of a ward to
make certain gifts of the ward's estate for estate planning
purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 865, Texas Probate Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) In an order entered under Subsection (a) of this
section, the court may authorize the guardian to make gifts as
provided by Subsection (a) of this section on an annual or other
periodic basis without subsequent application to or order of the
court if the court finds it to be in the best interest of the ward
and the ward's estate. The court, on the court's own motion or on
the motion of a person interested in the welfare of the ward, may
modify or set aside an order entered under this subsection if the
court finds that the ward's financial condition has changed in such
a manner that authorizing the guardian to make gifts of the estate
on a continuing basis is no longer in the best interest of the ward
and the ward's estate.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act to Section
865, Texas Probate Code, applies only to an application for the
establishment of an estate plan filed on or after the effective date
of this Act. An application for the establishment of an estate plan
filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
in effect on the date the application was filed, and the former law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
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