Q: If parents leave land to their two adult daughters in a trust, and one of the daughters who is married is divorced
In texas, does the husband divorcing the daughter have a claim to the property under community property rights
A: While in Texas inheritance is always separate property, the language of the trust agreement determines whether the property in the trust, in addition to distributions to the daughter, is income and so is community property. If the daughter does not have a right to the property in the trust (the principal, also called the "corpus") except for health, education, maintenance or support (an ascertainable HEMS standard) and does not receive it, it remains the property of the trust, not of the daughter, and so cannot be reached by the husband. As indicated above, distributions to her as a beneficiary of the trust are "income" and so community property -- during the marriage.
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