Court Held That An Illegitimate Child Was Not A Beneficiary Of A Trust Due To The Law In Effect At The Time Of The Trust’s Creation

Short summary

Texas court ruled that a trust created in 1966 must be interpreted under 1966 law, which did not recognize nonmarital children as legal descendants. Despite DNA proof of biological relationship, an illegitimate daughter cannot inherit because the trust predates modern family law reforms. The ruling upholds the principle that settlor intent is determined at the time of trust creation, not retroactively.

• •Court applied 1966 Texas law to interpret trust, not modern family law
• •Nonmarital child excluded from beneficiary class despite biological proof
• •Settlor intent frozen at trust creation date; later legal changes irrelevant

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