Author David F. Johnson recently presented his paper on “Undue Influence, Detecting Elder Abuse, and the Duty to Report Financial Exploitation” to the Austin Probate Bar Association in Austin, Texas, on May 20, 2022.
Continue Reading Presentation: Undue Influence, Detecting Elder Abuse, and the Duty to Report Financial Exploitation
Items of Interest

Texas Passes A New Law To Punish Elder Financial Abuse
The Texas Legislature recently enacted a new law that criminalizes the financial abuse of the elderly. This is in response to the increasing financial attacks on the elderly. Effective September 1, 2021, the Texas Legislature added a penal statute entitled “Financial Abuse of Elderly Individual.” …
Continue Reading Texas Passes A New Law To Punish Elder Financial Abuse
David Fowler Johnson Receives JD Supra’s 2022 Readers’ Choice Award for Top Author in Wealth Management
FORT WORTH, TX – Winstead PC, a leading national law firm, today announced that David Fowler Johnson, Managing Shareholder of the firm’s Fort Worth office and the lead writer for the Texas Fiduciary Litigator blog, was awarded the JDSupra Readers’ Choice Award for Top Author in Wealth Management.
This is the fourth year…

Upcoming Event: UT CLE 18th Annual Changes and Trends Affecting Special Needs Trusts
On Thursday, February 11, Winstead Shareholder David F. Johnson presents his 2020-2021 Fiduciary Litigation Update at the UT Law CLE 18th Annual Changes and Trends Affecting Special Needs Trusts. David’s presentation will cover recent statutory changes and case law updates.
Date: Thursday, February 11, 2022 at 9:30 a.m.
CLE Credit: 0.75 hr
Location: AT&T Conference…
Presentation: Litigating Self-Interested Transactions Involving Fiduciaries
David F. Johnson presented his paper “Litigating Self-Interested Transactions Involving Fiduciaries” to the State Bar of Texas’s Fiduciary Litigation Course on December 2-3, 2021, in San Antonio, Texas. This presentation discussed a fiduciary’s duty of loyalty, the right to compensation and other benefits, the concept of self-interested transactions, the presumption of unfairness that attaches to…
Presentation: Trust Issues In Divorce Proceedings
David F. Johnson presented “Trust Issues In Divorce Proceedings” on November 17, 2021. This presentation covered trust issues that arise in divorce disputes, such as spouses creating an irrevocable trust, fraud claims to void a trust, conflict of interest issues raised by the same attorney drafting both spouse’s estate/trust documents, characterization of trust assets and…
Presentation: Trustee’s Obligation to Inform Beneficiaries: Avoiding Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims
David F. Johnson presented “Trustee’s Obligation to Inform Beneficiaries: Avoiding Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims” to a national audience on November 16, 2021, via Strafford publishing with his co-presenter Scott E. Rahn, founder of RMO LLP. A critical obligation for trustees of irrevocable trusts is the duty to inform beneficiaries of the trust’s existence and…
Financial Services Webinar – Fiduciary Litigation Update: 2020-2021
David will cover recent statutory changes and case law updates. He will discuss extending the rule against perpetuities, de jure versus de facto status as trustee, modifications to trusts, trust construction, temporary injunctions against trustees, trustee authority to sell real estate, trust management of closely held businesses, co-trustee management, exculpatory clauses, acceptance-of-the-benefits doctrine, will reformation…

David Fowler Johnson Named American College of Trust and Estate Counsel Fellow
David F. Johnson has recently been named a Fellow with the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (“ACTEC”). ACTEC is an organization of almost 2,400 trust and estate lawyers and law professors who have been elected by their peers in recognition of having made outstanding contributions to the practice of trust and estate law.…
Presentation: Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims Against Trustees/Managers of Closely Held Businesses
David F. Johnson co-presented “Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims Against Trustees/Managers of Closely Held Businesses” with Kenneth J. Fair from Wright, Close & Barger LLP to the AFHE (Attorneys For Family-Held Enterprises) Fall Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on November 29, 2021. This presentation discussed how and why trusts own closely held business interests, trustee’s duties…