In In re Estate of Maun, a brother sued his sister’s estate for her performance as executrix of their mother’s estate since the late 1980s. No. 13-22-00576-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 52 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi January 4, 2024, no pet. history). The trial court entered summary judgment for the defendant
The Texas Supreme Court Affirms A Summary Judgment For A Fiduciary Defendant Based On The Statute Of Limitations And The Duty To Use Reasonable Diligence To Discover Claims
The Court noted that a claim generally accrues when the defendant’s wrongful conduct causes the claimant to suffer a legal injury. Id. The Court also noted that the discovery rule can defer accrual of limitations:
In Marcus & Millichap Real Est. Inv. Servs. of Nev. v. Triex Tex. Holdings, LLC, Triex purchased a gas station in 2008 from Hamilton Holdings. No. 21-0913, 2023 Tex. LEXIS 22 (Tex. January 13, 2023) (per curiam). Both the buyer and seller used Marcus & Millichap as their broker for the transaction. In 2012, the operator of the gas station defaulted on the lease. A little over three years later, Triex sued Hamilton Holdings and others for breach of contract, fraud, and related torts. After some discovery, Triex added Marcus & Millichap to the lawsuit in March 2017 and asserted claims for breach of fiduciary duty, fraud by nondisclosure, and conspiracy. Marcus & Millichap moved for summary judgment, arguing that Triex’s claims were time-barred. The trial court granted the motion, and the court of appeals reversed and remanded, concluding that a fact issue existed as to whether Triex “knew or should have known on [December 1, 2012,] that the injury was the result of wrongful acts committed by Marcus & Millichap.” The Texas Supreme Court granted review.
Court Held That A Beneficiary’s Claims Against The Estate Of The Trustee Was Not Barred By Limitations
In Estate of Erwin, a husband died leaving some property to his wife and creating two trusts, naming his wife as the trustee and beneficiary with his children as remainder beneficiaries. No. 13-20-00301-CV, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 10160 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi December 29, 2021, no pet.). The wife commingled property and made other transfers of property. She then died, and one of her children became the successor administrator of the husband’s estate and the administrator of the mother’s estate.
The Statute of Limitations for Bills of Review in Estate Cases Are Two Years
In Valdez v. Hollenbeck, parties attempted to sue an administrator for thefts from the estate by a third person around 1995 after the court had discharged the administrator in 1996. No. 13-0709, 2015 Tex. LEXIS 556 (Tex. June 12, 2015). The Texas Supreme Court held that all bills of