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Estate Planning › Appeals › Fiduciary Duty

Estate Planning is a process where individuals prepare or plan for the settlement of their personal affairs in the event of incapacitation or death. Estate plans typically include provisions relating to the... more +
Estate Planning is a process where individuals prepare or plan for the settlement of their personal affairs in the event of incapacitation or death. Estate plans typically include provisions relating to the disposition of assets, guardianship of minor children, and appointment of representatives to make medical and financial decisions. Effective estate planning can decrease tax liability and facilitate the probate process.  less -
Lathrop GPM

Minnesota Appeals Court Rules on Property Disclaimers - An Unheralded But Key Estate Planning Tool

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On April 28, 2025, the Minnesota Court of Appeals issued its opinion in In re Estate of Bogren. The court addressed a matter of first impression in Minnesota – whether a disclaimer of property must clearly state the value of...more

Winstead PC

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

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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

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani

Kositzka v. Fick: Key Lessons on Trustee Fiduciary Duty in Virginia Trusts

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In a recent decision, the Court of Appeals of Virginia upheld a lower court’s ruling that Kositzka, Wicks and Company (KWC) breached its fiduciary duty to Edward Joseph Ryan, awarding his estate $999,050 in damages, attorney...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Demand Futility, Dissolution, and Transfer Restrictions: Spring Blooms Fresh Developments in LLC Litigation

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In addition to blooming trees and longer days, spring in New York has ushered in a fresh crop of noteworthy decisions on intra-LLC disputes.  Headliners include a boost to members’ rights to compel an accounting courtesy of...more

Warner Norcross + Judd

What is a Special Fiduciary and When Can the Probate Court Appoint One?

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The Michigan Court of Appeals recently issued a decision that considered the scope of the probate court’s ability to appoint a special fiduciary. In re Trueman Harrison and Modesta Harrison Trust, No 368031, 2025 WL 272281...more

Hinshaw & Culbertson - Lawyers for the...

Do Illinois Attorneys Have a Duty to Assess Their Client's Mental Competence?

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In a legal malpractice action arising out of revisions to a client's estate plan, the appellate court considered whether an attorney has a duty to evaluate a client's mental capacity and, if so, whether the plaintiff alleged...more

Sullivan & Worcester

LePage v. Mobile Infirmary Association: Alabama Wrongful Death of a Minor Statute Applies to Cryogenically Preserved Embryos

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Carole M. Bass and Cara Koss co-authored this article. The authors have long raised as an issue the impact personhood legislation could have on assisted reproduction and, by extension, on estate and trust administration...more

Winstead PC

Court Affirmed Removal Of An Administratrix For Gross Mismanagement

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In In the Est. of Lemme, an administratrix of an estate hired her boyfriend to do legal work. No. 07-21-00300-CV, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS 8829 (Tex. App.—Amarillo December 1, 2022, no pet. history). ...more

Goulston & Storrs PC

Probate & Fiduciary Litigation Newsletter - April 2022

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This newsletter is intended to keep readers informed about developments in probate and fiduciary litigation in Massachusetts and New York. Our lawyers are at the forefront of this area of the law, shaping how it is handled in...more

Winstead PC

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

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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

Lathrop GPM

Minnesota Court of Appeals Upholds Settlor’s Intent, Rejects Beneficiary’s Petition to Modify Trust and Receive Attorney Fees

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In an opinion released last week, the Minnesota Court of Appeals rejected a petition to modify the terms of a trust to allow for the early distribution of trust assets to the beneficiaries. The court also denied the...more

Winstead PC

Court Affirms Decision That Executor Applicant Was Unsuitable For That Position

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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

Winstead PC

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

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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

Winstead PC

Court Holds That A Trustee Had The Power To Sell Trust Property To An Affiliate, Though Such An Act May Be In Breach Of A Duty

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In Pense v. Bennett, the ward in a guardianship proceeding sued to invalidate the sale of real property from a trust created for his benefit to an affiliate of the trustee. No. 06-20-00030-CV, 2020 Tex. App. LEXIS 8002 (Tex....more

Downey Brand LLP

Daughter Liable for Interfering with Stepmother’s Inheritance

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Intentional interference with expected inheritance (IIEI) was recognized as a legal claim in California about eight years ago in Beckwith v. Dahl (2012) 205 Cal.App.4th 1039. Last week, the Court of Appeal issued the first...more

Goulston & Storrs PC

Probate & Fiduciary Litigation Newsletter – December 2019

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The Probate & Fiduciary Litigation Newsletter compiles recent Trust & Estate cases. Our lawyers are at the forefront of this area of the law, shaping how it is handled in the Probate and Family Court. Goulston & Storrs is the...more

Holland & Hart LLP

Trustees Beware: Provide Timely Information to Beneficiaries

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Individual trustees often fail to fulfill the duties imposed on trustees, not only by the trust instrument, by also by the trust statutes applicable in the jurisdiction. It is often the case that the individual trustee is a...more

Downey Brand LLP

California Probate Administration Is No Time for Napping

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In the absence of a trust that allows assets to pass without opening probate, the California probate process lasts for at least six months and can run much longer depending on the size of the estate and the nature of assets....more

Goulston & Storrs PC

Probate & Fiduciary Litigation Newsletter – June 2019

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The Probate & Fiduciary Litigation Newsletter compiles recent Trust & Estate cases. Our lawyers are at the forefront of this area of the law, shaping how it is handled in the Probate and Family Court. Goulston & Storrs is the...more

Winstead PC

Court Holds That There Was Insufficient Evidence To Establish That Account Beneficiary Designations Were Executed As A Result Of...

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In Fielding v. Tullos, an administrator of a decedent’s estate brought claims against the decedent’s housekeeper for undue influence and other related claims arising from the execution of new account beneficiary designations...more

Winstead PC

Court Affirms Judgment That Power-Of-Attorney Holder Converted Funds By Withdrawing Them From A Joint Account

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In Fletcher v. Whitaker, a brother withdrew $25,000 from a joint bank account while the owner of the funds (decedent) was still alive. No. 02-17-00138-CV, 2018 Tex. App. LEXIS 8329 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth October 11, 2018, no...more

Downey Brand LLP

Fore! California Court Drives Away Claim that Trustee’s Attorney Breached Trust

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When attorneys advise errant trustees, how vulnerable are they to breach of trust claims by injured beneficiaries? A case published last week by the California Court of Appeal provides a defensive roadmap to attorneys who are...more

Goulston & Storrs PC

November Trust and Estates Litigation Advisory

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Since our last newsletter, there has been one significant development in the Probate and Family Court, and one decision of note. First, effective as of November 20, 2017, the Probate and Family Court issued Standing...more

Goulston & Storrs PC

T&E Litigation Newsletter- March 2017

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This week has brought a much-anticipated decision by the Supreme Judicial Court regarding trust decanting, and the past month also brought the latest chapters in two cases that we reported on previously....more

Winstead PC

Court Affirms Order Denying An Administrator’s Attorney’s Fees

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In In re Estate of Williams, attorney Don Ford was appointed an administrator of an estate and hired himself as an attorney for the estate. No. 05-15-00392-CV, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 5990 (Tex. App.—Dallas June 6, 2016, no pet....more

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