These Texans Planned for Their Kids and the Corps Down to the Last Dollar

As seventh-generation Texans, Julia ’79 ’80 and Chris Morton ’78 ’79 appreciate how their ancestors’ values, work ethic and sacrifices have supported their success.

Wanting to continue that legacy, the couple worked with their financial planner and estate attorney to establish a revocable living trust that will initially support their two daughters before funding a Corps of Cadets scholarship to help future generations of Texas A&M University students.

In a unique twist, the Mortons established their gift as a “last dollar” scholarship to help cadets from Texas pursuing engineering, business or agriculture degrees cover any remaining financial need. “College has gotten expensive, so we wanted to help Aggies who get accepted into Texas A&M and have all the requisite abilities but don’t see a way to afford their education,” Chris said. “We hope this will inspire them to complete their degree so they can make a difference in Texas and the country.”

Reaching a Turning Point

The Mortons initially created their estate plan in the 1990s to establish a trust and guardianships for their then-small children. In the ensuing years, the couple hesitated to revise their legal documents until everyone’s lives had reached a certain point. “You’re on a fast-moving train and the landscape is constantly changing,” Chris explained. “We didn’t want an attorney to rewrite our documents only to get two miles down the road and rewrite it again. We were waiting for the point when our kids were old enough that we could see over the horizon a bit.”

That vantage point arrived in 2024. “We looked at our estate plan and knew we needed to change it from the much-aged version,” Chris said. “Although nothing is guaranteed in life, we revised our trust with some relatively safe assumptions. We knew what our daughters’ professional lives looked like and who they were as adults, so it seemed like an appropriate time to slow the train down and rewrite something structured to survive any changes that life will throw at us in the next 20 years.”

To that end, the couple have recommitted to maintaining their own long-standing frugal lifestyle for the remainder of their lives while using their revised estate plan to establish a trust that will provide a set income stream to their children for the duration of their lives.

“We’ve engineered our plan to take care of our daughters first,” Chris explained. “Our estate will support an annuity that will pay a set amount of money to our daughters annually without draining it. We can tweak that number if needed because it’s a simple math formula, but the structure doesn’t change.”

A Chemical Spark

Growing up in Spring, Texas, Julia planned to attend The University of Texas at Austin (UT) so she could march in the band. However, that changed after joining two friends in attending a college night. After a brief and dry exchange with the UT representative, the group headed to talk to the Texas A&M representative. “He was the nicest man and told us all about the university and how we should go,” she said. “And then he looked at me at the end and said, ‘The ratio of males to females is 3-to-1’—and I thought, ‘Sold!’”

Chris spent his early years in Corpus Christi, Texas, where his family lived a few miles from the U.S. Naval Air Station. “The Vietnam War was going on, and it was assumed you were going to war if you were a guy,” he said. “My plan was to take control of the situation by enlisting as an officer. I toyed with the idea of attending the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, although I probably didn’t have the grades.”

However, as a high school senior, the war ended right as Chris’s family moved to Conroe, Texas. As a result, Chris changed plans, opting to follow in the footsteps of his father, Ed Morton ’46. “That delighted my father to no end,” he remembered.

Once the Mortons found their way to Aggieland, they were brought together through a chemistry course. On that fateful day, Chris, a sophomore in the Corps, was running late. “I was the last student through the door that first day of chemistry lab, and every stool was full except for one back in the corner where all girls were sitting. I thought, ‘No guy wanted to sit with all these girls? That’s just weird!’ And so of course I took the seat.”

The professor soon asked students to watch a video on the classroom’s closed-circuit TV. Julia, who was seated at the next station, scooted her stool beside Chris to see the television monitor. That encounter led to many more—and as a result, the couple recently celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary.

Making It Count

As college graduation neared, Chris briefly considered accepting a military commission but realized he’d have more career opportunities in the rapidly growing computer science field. With computer science and accounting degrees in hand, the couple moved to Houston where both worked for Shell while focusing on a life of fiscal responsibility. “Early in our marriage, our idea of fun was eating out at Tinsley’s Fried Chicken,” Chris recalled. “That was a big deal—and all we could afford.”