In Gordon v. Gordon, a couple created a revocable trust and named a friend, who provided financial advice, as successor trustee. No. 03-22-00454-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 3611 (Tex. App.—Austin May 23, 2024, no pet. history)....more
8/21/2024
/ Beneficiaries ,
Breach of Duty ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing ,
Estate Planning ,
Executors ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Jury Trial ,
Mismanagement ,
Removal ,
Removal For-Cause ,
Revocable Trusts ,
Successors ,
Trustees ,
Wills
David F. Johnson presented to the Tarrant County Probate Bar Association on May 4, 2023, on the topic of “Trust Issues in Divorce Proceedings.” This program discussed some of the many trust issues that arise in divorce...more
5/9/2023
/ Beneficiaries ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Divorce ,
Estate Planning ,
Fraud ,
Marriage ,
Spouses ,
Trust Distributions ,
Trustees ,
Trusts ,
Uniform Trust Code
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
Settlors often place some or all of the ownership in a closely-held business in a trust. A trustee managing a trust with an interest in a closely held business has difficult management issues to address and this often raises...more
8/10/2022
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Beneficiaries ,
Best Practices ,
Breach of Duty ,
Closely Held Businesses ,
Co-Trustees ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Controlling Person ,
Directed Trustees ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Ownership Interest ,
Risk Management ,
Trustees ,
Trusts ,
Wealth Management ,
Webinars
This presentation covers trust issues that arise in divorce disputes, such as spouses creating an irrevocable trust, fraud claims to void a trust, conflict of interest issues raised by the same attorney drafting both spouse’s...more
4/21/2022
/ Closely Held Businesses ,
Co-Trustees ,
Community Property ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Divorce ,
Estate Planning ,
Irrevocable Trusts ,
Separate Property ,
Settlors ,
Spouses ,
Trust Administration ,
Trust Assets ,
Trust Distributions ,
Trustees ,
Trusts ,
Webinars
David F. Johnson presented “Trust Issues In Divorce Proceedings” on November 17, 2021. This presentation covered trust issues that arise in divorce disputes, such as spouses creating an irrevocable trust, fraud claims to void...more
11/22/2021
/ Beneficiaries ,
Conflict Resolution ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Divorce ,
Estate Planning ,
Family Trusts ,
Irrevocable Trusts ,
Revocable Trusts ,
Spouses ,
Trustees ,
Trusts
David F. Johnson presented his paper “Business Divorce: Minority Shareholder Rights In Texas” to the State Bar of Texas’s Business Disputes Course on September 2-3, 2021. This presentation addressed shareholder oppression...more
9/8/2021
/ Board of Directors ,
Business Disputes ,
Business Divorce ,
Business Litigation ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Officers ,
Derivative Suit ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Good Faith ,
Legal Representatives ,
Majority Shareholders ,
Minority Shareholders ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholder Oppression ,
Shareholder Rights ,
Shareholders
Areas of Discussion:
- In this Presentation, we will discuss the following:
- Duty of loyalty;
- Authority for trustee compensation;
- Factors for reasonable compensation;
- Other issues arising from trustee...more
9/27/2019
/ Asset Management ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Beneficiaries ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Duty to Disclose ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Reasonable Compensation ,
Settlors ,
Trustees ,
Trusts ,
TX Supreme Court
In Milligan v. Salamone, the Greenberg Taurig lawfirm represented the bankrupt company when it sued a president and board member. No. 1:18-CV-327-RP, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41009 (W.D. Tex. March 14, 2019). Greenberg drafted...more
4/22/2019
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Appeals ,
Attorney Malpractice ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Breach of Duty ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Contract Drafting ,
Dismissals ,
Employment Contract ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Professional Negligence ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Reversal ,
Self-Dealing ,
Trustees ,
Vacated
In In re Estate of Roach, a trial court removed an executor for multiple grounds, including: (1) Texas Estates Code Section 404.0035(b)(5), which authorizes removal when an independent executor becomes incapable of properly...more
David F. Johnson, lead writer for the Texas Fiduciary Litigator blog, spoke at the Tarrant County Probate Bar’s Litigation Seminar and presented “Fiduciary Litigation Update 2015-2016.” David discussed recent Texas precedent...more
David F. Johnson, lead writer for the Texas Fiduciary Litigator blog, spoke at the Tarrant County Bar Association’s Ethics Seminar on September 30, 2016, and presented “Interesting Issues In Legal Ethics.” The presentation...more
The fiduciary field in Texas is a constantly changing area. Over time, statutes change, and Texas courts interpret those statutes, the common law, and parties’ documents differently. This paper is intended to give an update...more
9/28/2016
/ Beneficiaries ,
Breach of Duty ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Evidentiary Hearings ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Injunctions ,
Inter Vivos Gifts ,
Real Estate Transfers ,
Standing ,
Trustees ,
Trusts
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
In Fitts v. Richards-Smith, three brothers were riding in a car when the car hit another vehicle properly stopped in the road. 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 1542 (Tex. App.—Texarkana February 17, 2016, no pet. history). The driver was...more
In Adams v. Regions Bank, beneficiaries sued a trustee for multiple claims, including breach of fiduciary duty, arising from the trustee’s seizure of collateral owned by the trust. 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1027 (S.D. Miss....more
In Macias v. Gomez, a client sued his attorney for breach of fiduciary duty arising from the attorney’s trust later suing the client. No. 13-14-00017-CV, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 12967 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi December 29, 2015,...more
In Matthews v. Stolier, litigation arose regarding several transactions, including a power of attorney document. No. 13-6638, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 171752 (D.C. La. December 23, 2015). Some of the parties retained an attorney...more