In In re Ruff Mgmt. Trust, the settlor and primary beneficiary sought and obtained a modification of a trust regarding who could name a successor trustee. No. 05-19-01505-CV, 2020 Tex. App. LEXIS 9467 (Tex. App.—Dallas December 3, 2020, no pet. history). The trust document provided that the settlor and her son would name a successor trustee. If they did not do so, then the settlor’s children would automatically be named co-trustees. The settlor had previously had a very contentious arbitration dispute with her son, and sought to modify the trust to have it state that she could, by herself, name a successor trustee. After the trial court granted that relief, the settlor’s other children (other than the son) appealed that decision. The court of appeals affirmed the modification, not because there was evidence to support it, but because the modification allegedly did not affect the appealing children’s rights. The court held that the children were automatically co-trustees as the mother and her son did not appoint a successor, and that they were still co-trustees. The court stated: “Therefore, as a practical matter, the order does not affect the Children’s rights. Under the Trust agreement’s express terms, the Children became co-trustees when Frost resigned, and the complained-of order does not remove them. Although Suzann may seek court approval to have the Children removed, she has not done so. In short, the only person whose rights are affected by this order is Mike, and he is not a party to this appeal.” Id.

The children also alleged that the modification was contrary to the trust’s purpose. The court disagreed:

The Trust agreement further provides that “[t]he Trustee shall distribute to Settlor so much of the net income and principal of the trust estate as the Trustee determines for Settlor’s Needs or Best Interests.” “Needs” are defined to include “health, support maintenance and education.” But “Best Interests” are as the trustee “deems advisable.” The Children argue that the modification is contrary to the Trust’s terms because it leaves Suzann “unassisted and unchecked relative to her expenditure of the Trust’s dwindling assets,” terminated the remainder beneficiaries’ rights, and removed the Children as co-trustees. We disagree. As previously discussed, the order at issue does not remove the Children as co-trustees. Likewise, it does not appoint Suzann trustee, or affect how the trustees makes distributions. The only Trust term affected by the order is who may participate in decisions concerning the appointment of a new trustee. Before modification, § 6.2 (A) required Suzann and Mike to act jointly to appoint a new trustee. This reflects the Trust’s intent that someone join Suzann in this decision to ensure that the Trust’s purpose and all beneficiaries are served. That person was Mike. The modification, however, simply substitutes the trial court for Mike by requiring Suzann to seek court approval for § 6.2 (A) decisions. Accordingly, because an objective third party is still participating in Suzann’s decisions, the modification is consistent with the Trust’s intent.

Id. Finally, the children alleged that the modification was improper because they were denied their rights to a jury trial. The court of appeals held that they waived the right to a jury trial by failing to assert that right before the first witness testified. Id. The court affirmed the order

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Photo of David Fowler Johnson David Fowler Johnson

[email protected]
817.420.8223

David maintains an active trial and appellate practice and has consistently worked on financial institution litigation matters throughout his career. David is the primary author of the The Fiduciary Litigator blog, which reports on legal cases and issues impacting the fiduciary…

[email protected]
817.420.8223

David maintains an active trial and appellate practice and has consistently worked on financial institution litigation matters throughout his career. David is the primary author of the The Fiduciary Litigator blog, which reports on legal cases and issues impacting the fiduciary field in Texas. Read More

David’s financial institution experience includes (but is not limited to): breach of contract, foreclosure litigation, lender liability, receivership and injunction remedies upon default, non-recourse and other real estate lending, class action, RICO actions, usury, various tort causes of action, breach of fiduciary duty claims, and preference and other related claims raised by receivers.

David also has experience in estate and trust disputes including will contests, mental competency issues, undue influence, trust modification/clarification, breach of fiduciary duty and related claims, and accountings. David’s recent trial experience includes:

  • Representing a bank in federal class action suit where trust beneficiaries challenged whether the bank was the authorized trustee of over 220 trusts;
  • Representing a bank in state court regarding claims that it mismanaged oil and gas assets;
  • Representing a bank who filed suit in probate court to modify three trusts to remove a charitable beneficiary that had substantially changed operations;
  • Represented an individual executor of an estate against claims raised by a beneficiary for breach of fiduciary duty and an accounting; and
  • Represented an individual trustee against claims raised by a beneficiary for breach of fiduciary duty, mental competence of the settlor, and undue influence.

David is one of twenty attorneys in the state (of the 84,000 licensed) that has the triple Board Certification in Civil Trial Law, Civil Appellate and Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Additionally, David is a member of the Civil Trial Law Commission of the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. This commission writes and grades the exam for new applicants for civil trial law certification.

David maintains an active appellate practice, which includes:

  • Appeals from final judgments after pre-trial orders such as summary judgments or after jury trials;
  • Interlocutory appeals dealing with temporary injunctions, arbitration, special appearances, sealing the record, and receiverships;
  • Original proceedings such as seeking and defending against mandamus relief; and
  • Seeking emergency relief staying trial court’s orders pending appeal or mandamus.

For example, David was the lead appellate lawyer in the Texas Supreme Court in In re Weekley Homes, LP, 295 S.W.3d 309 (Tex. 2009). The Court issued a ground-breaking opinion in favor of David’s client regarding the standards that a trial court should follow in ordering the production of computers in discovery.

David previously taught Appellate Advocacy at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law located in Fort Worth. David is licensed and has practiced in the U.S. Supreme Court; the Fifth, Seventh, and Eleventh Federal Circuits; the Federal District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas; the Texas Supreme Court and various Texas intermediate appellate courts. David also served as an adjunct professor at Baylor University Law School, where he taught products liability and portions of health law. He has authored many legal articles and spoken at numerous legal education courses on both trial and appellate issues. His articles have been cited as authority by the Texas Supreme Court (twice) and the Texas Courts of Appeals located in Waco, Texarkana, Beaumont, Tyler and Houston (Fourteenth District), and a federal district court in Pennsylvania. David’s articles also have been cited by McDonald and Carlson in their Texas Civil Practice treatise, William v. Dorsaneo in the Texas Litigation Guide, and various authors in the Baylor Law ReviewSt. Mary’s Law JournalSouth Texas Law Review and Tennessee Law Review.

Representative Experience

  • Civil Litigation and Appellate Law