Will for Single Individual
(Trust(s) for Children) (TX)

Summary

This template for a will for single individual with trust(s) for children is for an unmarried client in Texas to pass assets to children in either (1) a single "pot" trust for their benefit, or (2) separate share trusts. Optional distribution provisions may be used for a testator without children. This template includes practical guidance, drafting notes, alternate clauses, and optional clauses. Pot trusts aim to distribute assets equitably to a group of children or other beneficiaries of a possible range of ages. The purpose of this trust arrangement is to avoid unjustly enriching beneficiaries who have already received the benefit of support through most of their life while younger minor beneficiaries still have a longer period of need. Rather than dividing the trust in equal fractional shares or percentages to each child, such as the case with separate share trusts, the trustee has discretion to delay the division of trust assets until a certain date, such as when the youngest child or beneficiary turns a specified age. Until then, the money is held in one common fund or pot, and can be spent on any beneficiary at the trustee's discretion.Establishing individual separate share trusts, as opposed to a single pot trust, is appropriate when all of the beneficiaries have reached the age of majority. The individual trusts usually provide an equal share of principal for each child but can be modified to provide unequal shares. The trustee has discretion in providing for each beneficiary from his or her own trust until he or she attains the specified age.The circumstances of the testator and beneficiaries, as well as the specific intentions of the testator, may require modifications to this template. For an in-depth discussion of wills, see Purposes and Uses of a Will (TX) and Requisites, Instrumentation, and Will Provisions (TX).