Texas beneficiaries can demand a written accounting under Property Code 113.151. Trustees have 90 days to respond, or face a lawsuit to compel compliance.
A beneficiary who suspects something is wrong with a trust may have no paperwork to prove it. Texas gives beneficiaries a tool for that situation, which is a written demand for an accounting. How the demand works, and what follows if the trustee ignores it, can decide whether a dispute ever reaches court.
A Written Demand Starts the Process
Under Texas Property Code 113.151, a beneficiary may make a written demand that the trustee deliver a statement of accounts covering all transactions since the last accounting or since the trust was created, whichever is later. The statement goes to all beneficiaries, not only the one who asked.
Details like the date of the demand and proof of delivery matter later. Working with a Dallas trust lawyer on the request keeps both clear, so the trustee’s deadline is never in doubt.
The Trustee Has Ninety Days to Respond
The trustee must deliver the statement on or before the 90th day after receiving the demand, unless a court orders a longer period. The same section also says a trustee generally doesn’t have to account to beneficiaries more often than once every 12 months, unless a court orders otherwise.
Timing matters a great deal. A demand sent shortly after a trustee has already accounted may not produce a new statement without a court order.
Trustees owe duties that extend beyond handing over a yearly statement, and the responsibilities as a trustee frame what an accounting should show. An accounting measures the trustee’s work against those duties.
A Lawsuit Can Compel the Accounting
If the trustee fails or refuses to deliver the statement on time, any beneficiary may file suit to compel it. A court may order an accounting when the beneficiary’s interest or the way the trust has been administered justifies one.
When informal requests go unanswered, a Dallas trust litigation lawyer can file that suit. If the beneficiary prevails, the court has discretion to award all or part of the court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees, payable by the trustee individually or as trustee.
Other Interested Persons Have a Path Too
The statute is not limited to beneficiaries. An interested person, such as someone with a claim against the trust, may also sue to compel the trustee to account when that person’s interest, claim, or the effect of the trust’s administration makes an accounting necessary.
That broader category matters when a beneficiary has died or when a dispute involves someone whose rights depend on the trust’s finances. Each situation turns on how the person’s interest connects to the trust property. Some disputes begin with silence instead of bad faith, which is why communication is a core part of managing trust beneficiaries.
What an Accounting Can Reveal
An accounting turns suspicion into documents. Reasons a beneficiary might ask for one include:
- Distributions that have slowed or stopped without explanation
- A trustee who won’t answer basic questions about trust property
- Sales of real estate or investments that no one explained
- Payments to the trustee or to the trustee’s relatives
- No reports for more than a year
The statement may answer these concerns, or it may confirm them. When the records show a problem, beneficiaries can weigh whether suing over trust mismanagement makes sense or whether removal is the better remedy.
Removal is a separate step with its own proof, and the rules for removing a trustee differ from the rules for compelling an accounting. Reviewing the accounting first shows whether removal is justified.
Brandy Austin founded Brandy Austin Law Firm in May 2013 after being licensed in Texas in 2008. She studied at Baylor University School of Law, has served as President-Elect of the Tarrant County Trial Lawyers, and was named a Super Lawyers Rising Star from 2015 to 2018.
An accounting can be the first document in a trust dispute, and the 90-day clock starts only after a proper demand. Beneficiaries in Dallas who aren’t getting answers can reach out to us, and we’ll review the trust, the demand, and the options for moving forward.