Trusts do what wills alone cannot: They move assets out of probate, manage them during incapacity, and protect them for the people you care about most. The Pabst Law Firm, PLLC is a boutique Austin practice that drafts revocable living trusts, irrevocable trusts, special needs trusts, and family trusts as part of fixed-fee estate planning packages. Every trust is designed to follow current Texas Property Code requirements and actually function the way the document promises.
Frank Pabst serves as our CEO and Primary Attorney, acting as the lead designer and driver of every trust strategy. Nicky Pabst, our Chief Operating Officer (COO), leads the firm’s operational engine and administrative team, guiding families through the planning, intake, and organization process. Together, we help you stay out of court, stay out of conflict, and keep your wealth where you want it.
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When Austin Families Need a Trust Attorney
Not every estate plan needs a trust: During your initial consultation, Frank provides an honest assessment of your needs. A trust becomes critical when one of the following applies:
You own real estate: Texas real estate moves through probate without a trust. A Revocable Living Trust (RLT) avoids that delay.
You own a business: Operating control and ownership transitions are smoother when business interests are held in trust.
You have minor children. A trust controls how and when an inheritance reaches your children, rather than dropping a lump sum into their lap at age eighteen.
You have a beneficiary with disabilities. A properly drafted special needs trust preserves means-tested benefits while supplementing quality of life.
You want privacy or incapacity protection: Wills become public during probate. Trusts do not, and they transition to a successor trustee without court-supervised guardianship.
Types of Trusts We Design Under Texas Law
Texas law recognizes many trust forms: Frank architectures the right one based on your specific goals:
Revocable Living Trust. The most common trust we draft. You maintain full control during your lifetime and can amend or revoke it at any time. It avoids probate for assets it owns and is treated as your own property for income tax purposes.
Irrevocable Trust: Used when permanence is the goal, such as removing assets from your taxable estate. Common forms include irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs) and grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs).
Special Needs Trust: Designed for beneficiaries with disabilities to hold assets without disqualifying them from essential government assistance.
Testamentary Trust: Created inside a will and funded only at death. Useful for managing distributions to minor children or beneficiaries not ready to manage assets directly.
Family Trust: A broad term covering trusts that consolidate multi-generational planning, asset protection, and distributions for an extended family.
Frank also drafts Pet Trusts, expressly allowed by the Texas Property Code, for families who want to ensure their pets are cared for after the owner’s death.
Trustee Duties and Responsibilities in Texas
Trustees hold legal title to trust property and manage it for the benefit of the beneficiaries. This role carries significant duties under the Texas Property Code:
Duty of Loyalty: Acting solely in the interest of the beneficiaries with no self-dealing.
Duty of Prudent Administration: Managing trust assets with the care a prudent person would use in their own affairs.
Duty to Inform and Report: Providing beneficiaries with accountings and material information upon request.
Duty of Impartiality: Treating multiple beneficiaries fairly and balancing current and future interests.
Duty to Follow Trust Terms: Administering the trust according to its written instructions and applicable law.
The Asset Integration Difference
Most DIY trusts and those from high-volume firms fail because of administration errors, not drafting errors. A trust is just a stack of paper unless it owns your assets.
If the trust is drafted but the deeds are never signed or the accounts are not retitled, the trust holds nothing, and your family goes to probate anyway. Even straightforward Travis County probate involves administrative delays; we design plans specifically to avoid court oversight. Funding errors, such as joint tenancy overriding the trust or mismatched beneficiary designations, can hurt your family later.
Under Nicky’s operational leadership, our administrative team coordinates the Asset Integration process. We walk you through the funding process to ensure the trust actually owns the property it is supposed to own, ensuring the plan Frank designed actually works when it is needed.
Austin-Specific Trust Considerations
Austin estates often include unique assets that demand specialized drafting, such as tech equity, restricted stock units (RSUs), and pre-IPO holdings. Frank’s designs account for real estate in rapidly appreciating neighborhoods and oil, gas, or mineral interests from Texas family land.
For 2026, the federal estate tax exemption is $15 million per person. Families approaching this threshold benefit from advanced trust structures that Frank coordinates with their broader estate plan. Nicky’s team leverages local relationships with Austin title companies and financial institutions to ensure your trust is funded efficiently and recognized without friction.
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