A trust may be created to care for an animal, and its property is generally limited to that use unless the section allows otherwise.
Sec. 112.037. TRUST FOR CARE OF ANIMAL. (a) A trust may be created to provide for the care of an animal alive during the settlor's lifetime. The trust terminates on the death of the animal or, if the trust is created to provide for the care of more than one animal alive during the settlor's lifetime, on the death of the last surviving animal. (b) A trust authorized by this section may be enforced by a person appointed in the terms of the trust or, if a person is not appointed in the terms of the trust, by a person appointed by the court. A person having an interest in the welfare of an animal that is the subject of a trust authorized by this section may request the court to appoint a person to enforce the trust or to remove a person appointed to enforce the trust. (c) Except as provided by Subsections (d) and (e), property of a trust authorized by this section may be applied only to the property's intended use under the trust. (d) Property of a trust authorized by this section may be applied to a use other than the property's intended use under the trust to the extent the court determines that the value of the trust property exceeds the amount required for the intended use. (e) Except as otherwise provided by the terms of the trust, property not required for the trust's intended use must be distributed to: (1) if the settlor is living at the time the trust property is distributed, the settlor; or (2) if the settlor is not living at the time the trust property is distributed: (A) if the settlor has a will, beneficiaries under the settlor's will; or (B) in the absence of an effective provision in a will, the settlor's heirs. (f) For purposes of Section 112.036, the lives in being used to determine the maximum duration of a trust authorized by this section are: (1) the individual beneficiaries of the trust; (2) the individuals named in the instrument creating the trust; and (3) if the settlor or settlors are living at the time the trust becomes irrevocable, the settlor or settlors of the trust or, if the settlor or settlors are not living at the time the trust becomes irrevocable, the individuals who would inherit the settlor or settlors' property under the law of this state had the settlor or settlors died intestate at the time the trust becomes irrevocable. Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 148 (H.B. 1190), Sec. 6, eff. January 1, 2006.