Appeals, Wills, Estate Planning

When a Prenuptial Agreement Says “Waiving All Rights”, It Really Does Mean Waiving All Rights

Fox Rothschild LLP on 7/2/2025

Too often, litigants (and sometimes attorneys) treat prenuptial agreements as documents that either don’t have to be followed and/or should be attacked as a matter of course to try to get the party who entitlements are...more

Court Affirmed Order Denying Probate Of A Will Due To The Absence Of A Record

Winstead PC on 6/26/2025

In In re Estate of Earnest E. Clifton, an applicant offered a copy of a lost will, and the trial court denied the application via a zoom hearing without a court reporter. No. 05-24-00079-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 7071 (Tex....more

Court Reversed Summary Judgment And Held That There Was A Fact Question On Whether A Trust Was Void Due To Forgery Or Fraud

Winstead PC on 6/26/2025

In In re Est. of Prieto, the contestant’s mother executed a will in 2008 leaving her property to a trust. No. 04-22-00038-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 6336 (Tex. App.—San Antonio August 28, 2024, no pet.)....more

Court Affirmed Summary Judgment Order Finding That A Will Should Be Set Aside For Undue Influence

Winstead PC on 5/20/2025

In Monariti v. Monariti, a will contestant filed a motion for summary judgment, alleging that the will should be set aside due to undue influence. No. 14-23-00062-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 6476 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.]...more

Court Reversed Order Holding That A Will Had Been Revoked Where There Was No Present Intent To Do So

Winstead PC on 4/18/2025

In In re Estate of Wright, decedent’s son appealed an order finding that his mother died intestate. No. 13-23-00043-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 8078 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi November 21, 2024, no pet. history)....more

Michigan Court of Appeals Ruling Reflects Certain Probate Court Relief is Limited to ‘Interested Persons’

Warner Norcross + Judd on 3/26/2025

A unique aspect of practicing before the probate court is the “interested person” concept. Someone who qualifies as an “interested person” is entitled to be served with filings and receive notice of hearings in proceedings...more

Court Held Order Requiring An Executor To Make A Partial Distribution Was Not An Appealable Order

Winstead PC on 1/2/2025

In Gaddy v. Fenenbock (In re Est. of Fenenbock), a probate court entered an order directing the independent executor of an estate to make a partial distribution of assets from the residuary clause in the decedent’s will into...more

Court Reversed Summary Judgment And Held That There Was A Fact Issue On Whether The Testator Had Mental Capacity To Execute A Will

Winstead PC on 10/3/2023

In Castello v. Ex’r of the Est. of Castello, the decedent died leaving a will that left his property to his wife “for life” and then to his three children by a prior marriage. No 03-22-00012-CV 2023 Tex. App. LEXIS 4454 (Tex....more

Court Applies Harmless Error Rule to Validate Will Benefiting Ex-Fiancé

Downey Brand LLP on 6/27/2023

Typewritten wills in California generally require the signatures of two witnesses to be found valid, but the harmless error rule can save the day. Probate Code section 6110(c)(2), as recently discussed, provides that a will...more

Appellate Court Affirms Findings That Decedent’s Will Was Not A Product Of Undue Influence And That He Had Mental Capacity

Winstead PC on 10/3/2022

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,...more

Court Held That The Estate Planning Privity Rule Barred Granddaughter’s Claim For Malpractice Against Her Grandmother’s Attorneys...

Winstead PC on 2/14/2022

In Flores v. Branscomb PC, before her death, the decedent hired counsel to prepare a new will. No. 13-18-00411-CV, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 4612 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi June 10, 2021, no pet. history)....more

Indiana Court of Appeals Invalidates Trust for Failure to Identify Trust Beneficiary

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP on 1/20/2022

Recently, the Indiana Court of Appeals decided the case of Wilson v. Wilson. The case involved the last will and testament (“Will”) of decedent Terrel Wilson, Sr. (“Terrel Sr.”), which purported to create a trust....more

Court Affirms Decision That Executor Applicant Was Unsuitable For That Position

Winstead PC on 11/19/2021

In In the Estate of Johnson, an applicant to be an independent administrator appealed a court’s decision to not appoint him due to his being unsuitable. No. 02-20-00133-CV, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 7138 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth...more

Court Holds That An Executor May Breach Duties In Making A Non-Pro Rata Distribution Of Assets

Winstead PC on 6/30/2021

In In re Estate of Stewart, siblings filed claims regarding the administration of their father’s estate. No. 04-20-00103-CV, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 3897 (Tex. App.—San Antonio May 19, 2021, no pet. history)....more

Texas Supreme Court Holds That A Beneficiary May Not Accept Any Benefit From A Will And Then Later Challenging The Will

Winstead PC on 6/1/2021

In In the Estate of Johnson, a child of the decedent accepted over $143,000 from the decedent’s estate and then decided to challenge the will due to mental capacity and undue influence. No. 20-0424, 2021 Tex. LEXIS 426 (Tex....more

Court Affirmed Trial Court’s Reformation Of A Will To Omit The Word “Personal” From The Term “Property” In A Residuary Clause

Winstead PC on 3/15/2021

In Odom v. Coleman, a brother and a sister sued each other regarding their father’s estate. No. 01-19-00669-CV, 2020 Tex. App. LEXIS 9551 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] December 8, 2020, no pet.)....more

Defining Testamentary Capacity

Conn Kavanaugh on 2/11/2021

In Haddad v. Haddad, the Massachusetts Appeals Court sent a stark reminder to probate litigators about just how difficult it is to prove a claim of lack of testamentary capacity. Such a finding must rely on specific facts...more

Court Holds That Holographic Will Was Not Valid As There Was No Signature

Winstead PC on 1/14/2021

In In the Estate of Hohmann, the decedent died without leaving an executed will, but his caretaker found a hand written document wherein the decedent stated his wishes for his property. No. 04-20-00237-CV, 2020 Tex. App....more

Where’s the Will? Indiana Court of Appeals Reverses Trial Court’s Presumption of Revocation for Lost Will

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP on 6/23/2020

Background - Recently, the Indiana Court of Appeals decided the case of Trowbridge v. Estate of Trowbridge. The case involved a man, Everett, who, despite their divorce, remained on good terms with his ex-wife, Christal....more

Mind Your Notice in California – Even Remote Contingent Beneficiaries May Need to Be Served

Downey Brand LLP on 3/20/2020

It’s unremarkable that California courts require that notice be given to affected beneficiaries in trust and probate proceedings. After all, the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees that no person will be deprived of life,...more

Court Holds That Devise Of “Personal Property” In A Will Included Tangible And Intangible Property, Including Money In Bank...

Winstead PC on 3/12/2020

In In re Estate of Debra E. Hunt v. Arabia Vargas, a trial court granted summary judgment interpreting a will to devise a large share of the testatrix’s personal property to her life partner. No. 01-19-00216-CV, 2020 Tex....more

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