In In the Est. of Ledbetter, Lonnie Ledbetter Jr. married Tawni in December 2023 at age 81, shortly after his wife of 44 years died. No. 02-25-00263-CV, 2025 Tex. App. LEXIS 9540 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth December 11, 2025, no pet.). After marriage, Lonnie changed his will to give 80% to
Court Held That District Court Had Concurrent Jurisdiction Over Probate Matters In County With No Statutory Probate Court
In Shaw v. Simpson, Sarah Shaw inherited her husband Shad’s business interests after his intestate death in 2018. No. 13-23-00549-CV, 2025 Tex. App. LEXIS 8545 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi November 6, 2025, no pet.). Sarah initiated probate proceedings in Kleberg County Court in August 2018. Richard Shaw (Shad’s father) sued
Court Held That Non-Attorney Executor Could Not Appeal An Order
In Suday v. Suday, a trial court denied an executrix’s challenge to its jurisdiction with regard to her mother’s estate. No. 04-23-00836-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 6953 (Tex. App.—San Antonio September 25, 2024, pet. filed). The executrix filed an appeal, and the court of appeals dismissed the appeal. The court
Court Dismissed An Appeal From A Probate Court Order Due To A Lack Of Jurisdiction
In In re Estate of Carr, the court of appeals dismissed an appeal from a probate court order due to a lack of jurisdiction. No. 04-23-00287-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 7827 (Tex. App.—San Antonio November 6, 2024, no pet. history). The order: (1) appoints a temporary dependent administrator pending
Court Holds That Party Waived Appeal By Not Timely Appealing An Order Admitting A Will To Probate
Court Had Jurisdiction To Determine Claims Involving Non-Probate Assets
In Castaneda v. Chapa, the executrix of an estate sued regarding the decedent changing account designations and a deed to real estate. No.13-22-00537-CV2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 3376 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi May 16, 2024, no pet. history). The trial court ruled for the executrix, and the other parties appealed asserting
Court Affirmed A Judgment For An Estate Because The Personal Represented Participated In The Case
Court Granted Motion To Abate A Suit To Remove A Trustee In District Court Because A First Filed Suit In A County Court At Law Had Primary Jurisdiction
In In re Kelly, a former executor and the trustee of a testamentary trust initiated a probate proceeding in a county court at law. No. 11-24-00066-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 3735 (Tex. App.—Eastland May 30, 2024, original proc.). An opposing party filed claims against him in the probate proceeding
Recorded Webinar: Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow ꟷ Issues Arising From Trust Termination and Trustee Succession In Texas
David Johnson, lead writer for The Fiduciary Litigator blog, discusses the main legal issues that arise when trusts terminate or there is a successor trustee, such as trustee resignation, trustee removal, who can be a successor trustee, co-trustee resignation issues, successor trustee duty to police, prior trustee duty to report
Court Holds That An Order Was Not Final For Appeal Where There Was Still An Issue Of Intestancy Remaining To Be Determined
In Estate of Long, the plaintiff sued trustees and alleged that she was the only child of the decedent and asserted a cause of action for a will contest and for a declaratory judgment action in which she requested the trial court to declare that the residuary clause of