David Fowler Johnson, Managing Shareholder of Winstead’s Fort Worth office and the lead writer for The Fiduciary Litigator blog, was awarded the JDSupra Readers’ Choice Award for Top Author in Wealth Management. In addition, Winstead was also named in the same category.

2024 marks the sixth consecutive year David has received this award

Beneficiaries of trust can face a difficult situation when the trustee of their trust either dies or becomes incapacitated. They may have many questions about the trust, such as what assets are in the trust or should be in the trust, what income and expenses have been incurred, what liabilities exist, what loans to and

A recent bill (H.B. 1552) has been submitted that would provide a trustee release relief for transactions described in an accounting where a beneficiary fails to timely object to the accounting and there is no fraud, intentional misrepresentation, or material omission. A similar bill was introduced in 2021, but the Legislature did not pass it. The new bill provides:Continue Reading New Texas Bill Would Provide Qualified Release Relief To Trustees Who Deliver Adequate Accountings Without A Timely Objection By The Beneficiary

It is common for wills or trusts to provide that the fiduciary has the right to construe the document. For example, a provision may state that the fiduciary shall resolve any question regarding the construction, interpretation, or operation of the will/trust or any matter involving the administration of the estate/trust or any rights of any

David Johnson presented his paper on “The More The Merrier: Issues Arising From Co-Trustees Managing Trusts” to the Tarrant County Probate Bar Association on September 16, 2022. This presentation addressed the benefits and drawbacks to co-trustee management, who can be a co-trustee, fiduciary duties, the duty to participate, the duty to cooperate, decision-making authority, delegation

David F. Johnson co-authored a paper entitled “Voir Dire (In a Post COVID World)” with Jason Smith of the Law Offices of Jason Smith for the State Bar of Texas’s Business Disputes Course, held in Austin, Texas, on September 15-16, 2022. The paper covered the waterfront of voir dire topics in Texas litigation, including preservation

David Johnson presented his paper on “Fiduciary Compensation and Forfeiture” to the Southwest Association of Bank Counsel fall legal conference on September 15, 2022, in Fort Worth, Texas. David addressed a fiduciary’s duty of loyalty, statutory and common law precedent for compensation of trustees, factors for evaluating compensation, principal and income act, co-trustee issues, and

It is not uncommon for an attorney to execute all or part of his or her client’s wishes, which may be in breach of a fiduciary duty owed by the client to a third party. The third party can certainly sue the client for breaching fiduciary duties. But can the third party also sue the attorney for participating in the client’s actions?
Continue Reading Suing Attorneys In Texas For Participating in Fiduciary Breaches