In In re Est. of Wright, Teddy Jack Wright died in Throckmorton County, Texas, in July 2022. No. 11-24-00243-CV, 2026 Tex. App. LEXIS 2532 (Tex. App.—Eastland March 19, 2026, pet. filed). Andy Wright and Glynda Fincannon filed an application to probate Teddy’s 2019 will in the 39th District Court…

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…

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…

In Charles v. Est. of Kornbacher, the estate sued a defendant regarding the ownership of real property. No. 01-23-00125-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 2947 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] April 30, 2024, no pet. history). After the estate won, the defendant appealed, arguing that the judgment had to be reversed due…

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…

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…