What Should a Texas Living Trust Package Include?

Short answer: A complete Texas living trust package should include more than a trust agreement. Look for a revocable living trust, certificate or abstract of trust, pour-over will, financial and medical powers of attorney, HIPAA authorization, advance directive, guardian documents when relevant, detailed signing instructions, and a practical funding system. The provider should also state the total household price and the limits of its service.

The trust agreement is the center of a trust-based estate plan, but it cannot do every job. A will can nominate guardians and catch probate assets left outside the trust. Powers of attorney address incapacity. Funding instructions help move the right assets under the trust’s control. Before you compare prices, compare the complete deliverable.

Texas living trust package checklist

Item	What it does	What to verify
Revocable living trust	Names trustees, beneficiaries, distribution terms, and incapacity rules.	It reflects Texas law and your household structure.
Certificate of trust	Summarizes key trust facts without disclosing every private provision.	Financial institutions can use it for routine trust transactions.
Assignment of personal property	Connects eligible personal property to the trust.	It does not claim to transfer assets that require title, registration, or beneficiary changes.
Pour-over will	Directs remaining probate assets toward the trust and can nominate guardians.	The signing ceremony complies with Texas will rules.
Durable financial power of attorney	Authorizes an agent to handle listed financial matters during life.	The powers, effective date, and agent choices are explained.
Medical power of attorney	Names an agent for health-care decisions if you cannot decide.	It is coordinated with your other medical documents.
HIPAA authorization	Authorizes access to protected medical information.	The people, scope, and duration fit your wishes.
Directive to physicians	Records treatment preferences for qualifying end-of-life circumstances.	The provider explains signing and distribution.
Guardian documents	Addresses guardians for minor children and possible future guardians for you.	The right documents are included for your family situation.
Funding guide and transfer tools	Shows how to coordinate real estate, accounts, personal property, and beneficiaries.	Instructions distinguish retitling from beneficiary designation and contract transfers.
Signing and storage checklist	Turns generated documents into an executed plan your helpers can find.	Witness, notary, original-document, copy, and review steps are specific.

1. The trust document needs workable instructions

Texas Property Code Chapter 112 addresses the methods and requirements for creating a trust, including intent, written evidence, and trust property. A useful trust agreement should identify the settlor, initial and successor trustees, beneficiaries, trustee powers, what happens during incapacity, and how property is distributed after death.

For married couples, the questionnaire and document system should distinguish jointly owned, community, and separate property rather than assuming every asset belongs to both spouses. It should also explain whether one joint plan or separate trusts are being created and what happens after the first spouse dies.

2. The backup will still matter

A revocable trust does not make the will unnecessary. A pour-over will can direct probate property to the trust and nominate guardians for minor children. Texas will execution is separate from trust execution. Under Texas Estates Code Section 251.051, an attested will generally must be in writing, signed by the testator, and attested by two credible witnesses age 14 or older who sign in the testator’s presence. Self-proving has additional statutory requirements.

3. Incapacity documents complete the plan

The trustee can manage property already in the trust, but that does not automatically authorize every financial, medical, or information-access decision. A coordinated package commonly includes a statutory durable power of attorney governed by Texas Estates Code Chapter 751, a medical power of attorney under Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 166, a HIPAA authorization, and a directive to physicians.

These are not interchangeable. The agent who manages money need not be the person who makes medical decisions. Good explanations help you choose each role deliberately and make sure alternates are named.

4. Funding support is part of the product

A trust generally controls property that has been transferred to it or otherwise made subject to it. That makes funding a core part of the service, not an optional footnote. The package should help you inventory assets and decide whether each asset is retitled, assigned, coordinated by beneficiary designation, or left outside the trust for a reason.

• Real estate may require a properly prepared and recorded deed.
• Bank and non-retirement investment accounts may require institution-specific ownership forms.
• Retirement accounts usually stay in an individual’s name and use beneficiary designations.
• Life insurance, vehicles, business interests, and digital assets each need asset-specific review.
• New assets should be added to a repeatable funding checklist.

Use Texan’s step-by-step trust funding guide and quick-reference funding chart to see why a signing ceremony alone does not finish the job.

5. Compare exclusions and ongoing costs

Ask whether the quoted price covers one person or both spouses, deeds or deed templates, county filing fees, attorney review, notarization, storage, later amendments, document regeneration, customer support, and subscriptions. Also ask what the package is not designed to handle. Tax planning, public-benefits planning, contested-family situations, business succession, creditor protection, and multi-state property can require individualized advice.

For market context, read how much a Texas living trust costs and the broader Texas estate-planning cost report.

What Texan’s Texas Family Trust Plan includes

As of August 28, 2026, Texan’s Texas Family Trust Plan costs $399 total for one individual or both spouses. It includes a revocable living trust, certificate of trust, assignment, funding guide, deed template, pour-over will, guardian documents, durable financial and medical powers of attorney, HIPAA authorization, directive, recorded attorney explanations, signing guidance, one year of updates, and a seven-day satisfaction guarantee. It is a self-guided legal-document service and does not provide individualized legal advice.

If you do not yet know whether a trust or will plan fits, compare wills and trusts in Texas or use the guided plan finder.

Frequently asked questions

Is a pour-over will included with a living trust?

A complete trust-based plan commonly includes a pour-over will. It can direct probate assets to the trust and nominate guardians, but it does not replace proper trust funding.

Should powers of attorney be included in a trust package?

Yes. A trustee’s authority over trust property does not replace financial and medical powers of attorney for decisions and assets outside the trust.

Does a living trust package include transferring my house?

Some packages provide a deed template or instructions, but preparation, review, signing, recording, lender questions, title issues, and county fees may be separate. Read the provider’s scope carefully.

Is trust funding a one-time task?

No. Initial funding is essential, and you should also review ownership and beneficiary designations when you acquire, sell, replace, or move assets.

This article provides general educational information, not individualized legal advice. Product prices and features are current as of August 28, 2026 and may change.