In In re Est. of Brown, a charity attempted to probate a copy of a lost will. No. 01-19-00953-CV, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS 9259 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] December 20, 2022, no pet. history). The trial court denied the application, and the charity appealed. The court of appeals affirmed. The court first discussed the
Court Affirmed An Order Holding That A Deceased Astronaut’s Artifacts Were His Separate Property
In Bean v. Bean, a dissenting co-executor sought relief from a probate court regarding whether certain assets were separate property or community property. No. 05-21-00286-CV, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS 9058 (Tex. App.—Dallas December 13, 2022, no pet. history). Alan Lavern Bean was an astronaut during Apollo-era space programs. He owned 39 artifacts from his experience
Appellate Court Affirmed An Order Denying A Beneficiary’s Request For Injunctive Relief To Require A Trustee To Reimburse The Trust For Attorney’s Fees Spent Defending Breach Of Fiduciary Duty Claims
In In re McIntire, trust beneficiaries sued a trustee for multiple allegations of breach of fiduciary duty. No. 07-22-00249-CV, 2023 Tex. App. LEXIS 60 (Tex. App.—Amarillo January 5, 2023, original proceeding). The trust beneficiaries filed a motion for partial summary judgment, which the trial court denied. The trust beneficiaries also sought an order requiring
Court Construes A Trust To Allow A Trustee To Sell Real Estate And To Consider The Proceeds As Principal Of The Trust
In In re John O. Yates Trust, a trustee of a trust filed suit to obtain declarations on whether it could sell certain real estate held in the trust, and if so, whether the proceeds should be designated as principal. No. 04-21-00365-CV, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS 9470 (Tex. App.—San Antonio December 28, 2022, no
Court Granted Mandamus Relief To Order District Court To Abate Trust Dispute Due To Earlier Filed Suit In Probate Court
In In re McGowan, a dispute arose regarding whether certain interests in real property were funded into a trust or whether the decedent still had those interests at the time of his death such that they were in his estate. No. 03-22-00726-CV, 2023 Tex. App. LEXIS 168 (Tex. App.—Austin January 11, 2023, original proceeding). The parties claiming that the interests were in a trust, the Sisters, filed claims in the probate case. Later suit was filed in district court regarding the same issues. The Sisters then filed a motion transfer the claims from the probate court to the district court and consolidate them. The trustee/executor filed a motion to abate in the district court due to the previously pending claims in probate court. The district court granted the motion to consolidate and denied the motion to abate. The trustee/executor filed a petition for writ of mandamus with the court of appeals challenging the denial of the motion to abate.
Court Affirms Judgment In Divorce Proceeding That Property Was Community Even Though It Was Purchased With Trust Assets
In Leggio v. Florian, the trial court awarded three real estate properties to the wife over an allegation by the husband that all of the properties were his separate property. No. 14-21-00168-CV, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS 5563 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] August 4, 2022, no pet. history). In the court of appeals, the court noted that “[i]f the trial court mischaracterizes a spouse’s separate property as community property and erroneously awards some of that property to the other spouse, then the trial court’s decree of divorce must normally be reversed in part and the case remanded for a new division of the marital estate, unless no harm has been shown from the erroneous division.” Id. There is a statutory presumption that the properties were community property because they were “possessed by either spouse during or on dissolution of marriage.” Id. (citing Tex. Fam. Code § 3.003(a)). The husband had the burden of rebutting the community-property presumption. The court noted:
Court Affirmed Summary Judgment For A Financial Advisor Due To The Dead Man’s Rule Arising From Claim That He Failed To Change A Beneficiary Designation
In Donnelly v. Donnelly, a widow sued her deceased husband’s son for failing to change the beneficiary designation on the husband’s IRA to name her. No. 14-21-00592-CV, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS 7615 (Tex. App.—Houston October 13, 2022, no pet. history). The IRA account had the husband’s three sons listed as beneficiaries. The widow alleged that the husband told his son, who was his financial advisor, to change the beneficiary designation, and the son said that he had done so. After the husband died, the widow discovered that the beneficiary designation had not been changed and sued for breach of fiduciary duty. The trial court granted the son a summary judgment, and the widow appealed.
Court Refused Mandamus Relief Due To Party’s Failure To Ask Trial Court To Issue New Special Needs Trust
In In re Pitts, the parties in a case settled and had a special needs trust drafted. No. 05-22-00542-CV, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS 4143 (Tex. App.—Dallas June 16, 2022, original proceeding). The trial court entered a different trust. The parties filed a petition for writ of mandamus challenging the trust entered by the trial court. The court of appeals denied the mandamus because the parties never requested that the trial court enter the trust that they drafted:
Continue Reading Court Refused Mandamus Relief Due To Party’s Failure To Ask Trial Court To Issue New Special Needs Trust
Appellate Court Affirms Findings That Decedent’s Will Was Not A Product Of Undue Influence And That He Had Mental Capacity
In In re Estate of Hogan, a father executed a new will, leaving his estate to one of his sons (Harold) and disinheriting his other son (Gary). No. 11-20-00170-CV, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS 3863 (Tex. App.—Eastland June 9, 2022, no pet. history). Gary filed a will contest, and the trial court heard same in a bench trial. After the court ruled against Gary, he appealed.
Continue Reading Appellate Court Affirms Findings That Decedent’s Will Was Not A Product Of Undue Influence And That He Had Mental Capacity
Appellate Court Denies Mandamus Regarding A Trial Court’s Initial Disclosure Order In An Estate Case
In In re Eisenbise, the parties, a mother and son, argued about a trial court’s order requiring an executrix to produce certain documents pursuant to her duty to provide initial disclosures in a dispute concerning the grandmother’s estate. No. 10-22-00090-CV, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS 3866 (Tex. App.—Waco June 8, 2022, original proc.).
Continue Reading Appellate Court Denies Mandamus Regarding A Trial Court’s Initial Disclosure Order In An Estate Case