News & Analysis as of July 24, 2025

Estate Planning › Standing

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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 -

Court Held That Non-Attorney Executor Could Not Appeal An Order

Winstead PC on 5/20/2025

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)....more

Contesting a Will in Pennsylvania: The Legal Process

Stark & Stark on 5/7/2025

In Pennsylvania, contesting a will is a serious legal action that should not be taken lightly. It can be emotionally challenging, especially if you believe that the last will and testament will not reflect the true intentions...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

Presentation: Trust Modifications and Reformations in Texas

Winstead PC on 2/13/2025

Lead writer for the Fiduciary Litigator blog, David F. Johnson, presented “Trust Modifications and Reformations in Texas” at UT Law CLE’s 21st Annual Changes and Trends Affecting Special Needs Trusts Conference. This...more

Due to scrivener negligence, the dispositive provisions of a trust fail to reflect the deceased settlor’s wishes: Can it be that...

Charles E. Rounds, Jr. - Suffolk University... on 1/22/2025

Assume the deceased settlor of a trust had intended that his niece be included in the beneficiary class, but his estate-planning attorney had negligently made no provision for her in the governing instrument. After settlor’s...more

Court Affirmed A Judgment For An Estate Because The Personal Representative Participated In The Case

Winstead PC on 9/19/2024

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)....more

New Hampshire Supreme Court Reaffirms UPMIFA’s Standing Requirements

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP on 7/26/2023

On July 13, 2023, the New Hampshire Supreme Court (the Supreme Court) unanimously affirmed the denial of a third-party motion to intervene in proceedings brought under the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act...more

Texas Supreme Court Dismisses Claims By Co-Trustee And Beneficiary Due To Statute Of Limitations And Clarifies That An Unnamed...

Winstead PC on 5/16/2022

In Berry v. Berry, one brother sued his other three brothers regarding the leasing of a family ranch. No. 20-0687, 2022 Tex. LEXIS 405 (Tex. May 13, 2022)....more

Another Broad Reading of the Elder Abuse Act Protects Seniors

Downey Brand LLP on 12/29/2021

We “ring” in 2022 with a recent case that again shows the long reach of statutory financial elder abuse claims in California trust and estate litigation. In Ring v. Harmon (2021) ___ Cal.App.5th ___, the Court of Appeal...more

Wife’s Fraudulent Transfer Claim Against Husband For Transferring Business Interests To Trust Failed Due To The Statute Of Repose

Winstead PC on 6/30/2021

In Austin v. Mitchell, a wife filed suit alleging her ex-husband fraudulently transferred a portion of his limited partnership interest in a family limited partnership to a trust for the benefit of his children. No....more

Court Held That An Heir Of An Estate Who Released All Claims Against The Estate Via A Settlement Agreement No Longer Had Standing...

Winstead PC on 2/8/2021

In In the Estate of Maberry, the alleged common-law wife of an intestate decedent did not have standing to seek to remove the decedent’s daughter as independent administrator because she was not an “interested person”...more

Texas Courts Conflict On Whether Contingent Remainder Beneficiaries Have Standing To Assert Claims Regarding Trust Administration

Winstead PC on 4/20/2020

Texas has recently had two opinions that seemingly take opposite views on whether a contingent remainder beneficiary has standing to sue a trustee for trust administration issue. In In re Estate of Little, a settlor of a...more

Court Holds That Will Contestant Was Not Estopped From Challenging The Will Due To Accepting Assets

Winstead PC on 1/2/2020

In "In the Estate of Johnson," a decedent’s daughter filed a will contest after accepting over $146,000 from the estate. No. 05-18-01193-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 9646 (Tex. App.—Dallas November 4, 2019, no pet.). ...more

Court Held That Heirs Had Standing To Participate In Estate Even After They Received The Assets They Were Due

Winstead PC on 6/7/2019

In In re Estate of Daniels, after the decedent’s death, his wife and his other heirs filed competing applications for independent administration of his estate. No. 06-18-00049-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 2905 (Tex....more

Court Reversed A Summary Judgment For Trustee And Found That A Contingent Remainder Beneficiary Had Standing And Potentially Had A...

Winstead PC on 10/15/2018

In In the Interest of K.K.W., an ex-wife sued an ex-husband and the trustee of a trust that they created for breaches of fiduciary duty and sought to remove the trustee, among other claims, arising out of the trustee’s...more

Court Affirmed Holding That Trust Owned Real Estate And Was Entitled To Attorney’s Fees

Winstead PC on 4/6/2016

In Courtade v. Estrada, Estrada created an inter vivos irrevocable trust and deeded real estate into the trust. No. 02-14-00295-CV, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 3105 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth March 24, 2016, no pet. history). Two days...more

Standing: How Much Is A Ticket To The Dance?

Jackson Walker on 3/28/2014

The purpose of this article is to explain the concept of “standing” in probate and guardianship actions, to discuss how the topic should be raised, and to provide some specificexamples of situations where the standing of a...more

Standing to Seek Enforcement of Charitable Trusts

Charles E. Rounds, Jr. - Suffolk University... on 2/3/2014

“It is the duty of the king, as parens patriae, to protect property devoted to charitable use; and that duty is executed by the officer who represents the crown for all forensic purposes.” Jackson v. Phillips, 96 Mass. (14...more

DOMA Undone

Pierce Atwood LLP on 7/4/2013

Signed into law in 1996, the Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, defined “marriage” for purposes of federal law as a union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and “spouse” as a person of the opposite sex....more

Personal Planning Strategies - July 2013

Proskauer Rose LLP on 7/3/2013

On June 26, 2013, the United States Supreme Court issued its decisions in Windsor v. United States and Hollingsworth, et. al. v. Perry et. al., thus ending a four year "fast-track" judicial expedition of the validity of the...more

Estate Planning Opportunities Arising from Recent Landmark Supreme Court Decisions Concerning Marriages of Same-Sex Couples

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP on 7/1/2013

On June 26, 2013, the US Supreme Court (the “Supreme Court”) struck down Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional in the case of United States v. Windsor (“Windsor”). In a related case, the...more

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Estate Planning › Standing

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