News & Analysis as of

Wills Appeals Beneficiaries

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

Winstead PC

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

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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

Winstead PC

Court Affirmed Probate Order On The Ownership Of Farm Equipment Which Depended On The Location Of The Equipment At The Time Of The...

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In Halderman v. Ivy, the decedent’s will stated: “I give, devise and bequeath my 66.977 acres located on FM 1848 in Freestone County, Texas, including all livestock and farm equipment located thereon to my two children . . ....more

Winstead PC

Court Reversed Order Setting Aside The Probating Of A Will Where The Evidence Was Insufficient To Support The Order

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In In re Estate of Johnson, an administrator and a third party appealed the trial court’s judgment setting aside the probate of the decedent’s will, removing the administrator, and voiding the sale of an estate asset to the...more

Winstead PC

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

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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

Winstead PC

Court Holds That An Order Was Not Final For Appeal Where There Was Still An Issue Of Intestancy Remaining To Be Determined

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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 a cause of action for a declaratory judgment action in which she...more

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Court Affirms Order Voiding Marriage Between Decedent And His Niece

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In Allebach v. Gollub, the decedent had three children, and after he died, one of them filed a will contest and a claim that the decedent’s marriage to his second wife was void. No. 14-22-00272-CV, 2023 Tex. App. LEXIS 3469...more

Conyers

BVI: In the Matter of the Estate of Sheikh Saoud Mohamed Al Thani – BVIHCVAP 2021 / 0001

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Offshore Trust and Estate Litigation Update Series – Part II - Following on from Part I of this series which summarised the Cayman Court’s consideration of a trustee’s application for the “blessing” of a “momentous...more

Winstead PC

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

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​​​​​​​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

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

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

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

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

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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

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

2021 Arkansas Insurance Legislation Summary: Act 925 Prohibits Life Insurance/Annuity Beneficiary Change through Will

In a surprising move, the Arkansas General Assembly overrode long-standing Arkansas common law that permits an insured to change a beneficiary of an insurance policy via will. On April 26, 2021, Governor Asa Hutchison signed...more

Winstead PC

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

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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

Winstead PC

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

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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

Conn Kavanaugh

Defining Testamentary Capacity

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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

Winstead PC

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

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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

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

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

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

Downey Brand LLP

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

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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

Winstead PC

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

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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

Gray Reed

Family History Guides Interpretation of a Texas Will

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Generally, if your will leaves your beloved “all … right, title and interest in and to”, said beloved would receive the entirety of your interest, whether a surface estate, mineral estate, or both. But in ConocoPhillips, et...more

Winstead PC

Court Reverses Summary Judgment On The Issue Of Whether A Testatrix Had The Mental Capacity To Execute A New Will

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In In the Estate of Mahaffey, a testatrix executed a new will nine days before she died of cancer. No. 04-19-00122-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 11171 (Tex. App.—San Antonio December 27, 2019, no pet. history)....more

Downey Brand LLP

California Courts May Invalidate Right of Survivorship in Joint Accounts

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Often an aging parent will add an adult child to the parent’s account as a joint holder to assist with asset management or bill payment. However, this may lead to an unintended result in California when the parent dies. The...more

Winstead PC

Court Holds That Testatrix Died Partially Intestate And That The Term “Personal Effects” In A Will Did Not Include Real Property

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In In re Estate of Ethridge, a testatrix signed a will that provided that “all my personal effects” would be devised to her nephew in law and that her half interest in a home went to another person. No. 11-17-00291-CV, 2019...more

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Court Holds That A Testamentary Trust Did Not Fail Because The Primary Beneficiary Predeceased The Decedent

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In In re Estate of Moore, a decedent executed a will that provided that the residuary of his estate would be held in trust for his mother, and such trust would terminate on her death with the assets then passing to certain...more

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