Smith County Trustees Deed (Two Cotrustees) Form

When a Texas trust sells real estate, the deed does not come from the trust. It comes from the trustees, because Texas practice puts legal title to trust property in the trustees themselves. And when the trust has two cotrustees, Property Code Section 113.085 sets the signing arithmetic: cotrustees act by majority decision, and a majority of two is both. The Texas Trustees Deed (Two Cotrustees) is built around that arithmetic, naming both cotrustees as grantors, reciting the trust by name and date, and carrying a signature line and a separate notary certificate for each signer.

A conveyance in a fiduciary capacity

The deed conveys with the classic Texas words of grant, so it transfers the property itself rather than merely releasing whatever interest the signers hold, the distinction the Texas Supreme Court drew in Geodyne Energy Income Production Partnership v. Newton Corp. The grantors act solely as cotrustees: the deed recites that they are all of the currently serving trustees, that they join together in the conveyance, and that the sale rests on the power of sale in the trust instrument and on Property Code Section 113.010, which lets a trustee sell and convey real property at public or private sale.

A special warranty with a fiduciary limit

The warranty is special: the grantors defend title only against claims arising by, through, or under themselves in their trustee capacity, but not otherwise. Because Texas implies covenants whenever a deed says grant or convey, the form adds the express provision Property Code Section 5.023 calls for, limiting the implied covenants to the same extent and confirming that no warranty binds the trustees' personal assets. A purchaser's protection against older title defects comes from title insurance and from warranties in earlier deeds in the chain, and the guide describes those limits plainly.

What the record shows a purchaser

A deed from trustees recites authority; it does not prove it. Texas answers with the certification of trust in Property Code Section 114.086, a trustee-signed summary that shows who currently serves and whether all cotrustees are required to act, and with Section 114.081, which protects a person dealing with a trustee in good faith and for fair value actually received by the trust. The guide walks through where the trust name, trust date, and vesting recitals come from, so the deed lines up with the certification a title company reads next to it.

Inside the package

The package contains the blank deed as a fillable PDF, a guide that walks through every numbered section, and a completed example showing the deed filled in for a fictional Williamson County sale by the two cotrustees of a family living trust. The deed is formatted for Texas recording: letter size within Local Government Code Section 191.007, the Property Code Section 11.008 confidentiality notice in boldfaced capitals at the top of page one, reserved space for the clerk's recording stamp, and a mailing address blank for the grantee that Property Code Section 11.003 contemplates. The deed records with the county clerk of the county where the property is located, and the materials are informational and are not legal advice.