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Estate Planning › Probate › Appeals

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 -
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

Downey Brand LLP

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

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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

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

Appellate Court Held That It Did Not Have Jurisdiction Over A Probate Court’s Order Denying A Motion For Summary Judgment And...

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In Janine v. McAfee, parties fought over who should be the administrator of an estate. No. 01-20-00717-CV, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 10101 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] December 23, 2021, no pet. history). ...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

The Court of Appeals Takes a Look at an Undue Influence Claim from a Non-Jury Trial

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The COVID-19 pandemic has forced litigants to wrestle with the dilemma of waiting for a jury trial or moving forward more expeditiously by way of a bench trial.  Recently, the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, and the...more

Downey Brand LLP

Another Broad Reading of the Elder Abuse Act Protects Seniors

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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

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 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

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

Downey Brand LLP

Showdown at the O.K. Corral – The Battle of the Omitted Heirs

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Providing for your children is one of the primary purposes of estate planning, but what happens to your carefully crafted trust if you had children you did not know about when you created the trust? Or, what if you have...more

Winstead PC

What Did He Say? A Court Reverses A Statutory Probate Court’s Order Because There Was No Record

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In Smith v. Malone, parties litigated the propriety of certain transactions in an estate proceeding before a statutory probate court. No. 01-19-00266-CV, 2020 Tex. App. LEXIS 4622 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] June 23, 2020,...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

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

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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 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

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

Downey Brand LLP

Beware of Dormant Creditor Claims in California Probate Cases

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California’s probate process aims to expeditiously identify and resolve the claims of creditors against decedents. Creditors who are unsophisticated, or who simply do not learn of the decedent’s passing, may find themselves...more

Winstead PC

Texas Court Concludes There Was A Fact Question As To Whether A Hand-Written Document Was A Will

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In In re Estate of Silverman, a trial court granted a will contestant’s summary judgment and denied a handwritten document’s admission to probate as the last will of the decedent. No. 14-18-00256-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 4579...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 Affirms Finding Of Undue Influence Regarding Execution Of Will

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In In re Estate of Russey, the decedent was going through a divorce and signed a will. No. 12-18-00079-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 1536 (Tex. App.—Tyler February 28, 2019, no pet. history). ...more

Winstead PC

Codicil Was Properly Rejected Because It Did Not Adequately Refer To Last Will And Testament

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In In the Estate of Hargrove, two daughters offered their mother’s last will and testament dated in 2017 for probate. No. 04-18-00355-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 1703 (Tex. App.—San Antonio March 6, 2019, no pet. history). Their...more

Winstead PC

The Texas Supreme Court Holds That The Only Consideration In Probating A Will After The Four-Year Limitations Period Is Evidence...

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In Ferreira v. Butler, a husband and wife divorced, and the husband married a second wife. No. 17-0901, 2019 Tex. LEXIS 375 (Tex. April 12, 2019). The second wife died, and the husband never probated her will, which left...more

Downey Brand LLP

Probate Code Provides Ground Rules for Who Gets What from Wills and Trusts

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Many California will and trust disputes arise from ambiguity in the document with respect to who is entitled to an asset. Maybe the document was hazy from the start or perhaps circumstances have changed such that the rightful...more

Cranfill Sumner LLP

The Requisites for a Valid Will in North Carolina versus Texas: Blinking a Testator’s Estate Plan and Execution of a Will

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Recently a Texas intermediate appellate court affirmed a trial court’s ruling to admit a Will for probate when the decedent did not personally sign it and only communicated his desires by blinking. In the Texas case, the...more

Winstead PC

Court Affirmed The Probate Of A Will Where The Testator, A Quadriplegic, Blinked His Desires To Draft And Execute The Will

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In Estate of Luce, the court of appeals affirmed a trial court’s admitting a will to probate where the decedent did not personally sign it and only communicating his desires by blinking. No. 02-17-00097-CV, 2018 Tex. App....more

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