No, says the Dallas Court of Appeals. The court stated that under Texas law, spendthrift trusts are trusts with language prohibiting the voluntary or involuntary alienation of the beneficial interest. A spendthrift trust protects the beneficiary from his creditors by expressly forbidding alienation of the beneficiary's interest in the trust. Where it appears from the terms of the instrument creating the trust that it was the donor's or testator's intention to create a trust estate immune from liability for the debts of the beneficiary and to prohibit its alienation by him during the term of the trust, a spendthrift trust is created, and the intentions of the donor or testator will be enforced by the courts of this State. Although beneficial interests in trusts are generally assignable, attempts to assign such interests are invalid when they are subject to a spendthrift provision in the trust.
Based on the law of spendthrift trust, the trial court could not order the trustee to pay spousal support to the wife pending a divorce. The court noted that the trial court could order support for children from a spendthrift trust but that was based on a specific statutory provision. There was no similar statutory provision for spouses.
Copyright by Robert Ray a Texas inheritance attorney.
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