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Texas Fiduciary Litigator

Texas Court Held That A Trust Beneficiary Could Raise A Claim Against A Trustee’s Estate For An Interest In Trust Property And A Constructive Trust

By David Fowler Johnson on August 17, 2019

In the Estate of Gibbs, Bell transferred money to Gibbs for the purchase of real property and a trust agreement was executed that clarified that they owned the property equally. No. 02-18-00086-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 4452 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth May 30, 2019, no pet. history). Later, Bell learned that Gibbs had transferred Bell’s half of the property to Gibbs’ wife during a divorce proceeding. Bell sued Gibbs’s estate and his wife’s estate for a…

Texas Fiduciary Litigator

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

By David Fowler Johnson on August 17, 2019

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 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] June 4, 2019, no pet. history). The proponent argued that the document could be testamentary in character as it appointed the decedent’s office manager as an executor. The proponent appealed. The court of appeals…

Winstead Business Divorce

Just in Time For Summer: The Freeze-Out Merger, A Legal Option Available to SOME Majority Owners of Privately-Held Texas Companies

By Winstead on August 5, 2019

By Zack Callarman and Mark Johnson Our previous posts have stressed the critical importance of buy-sell agreements for both majority owners and minority investors in private companies (Read here). For majority owners, securing a buy-sell agreement avoids the potential of becoming “stuck” in business with a difficult co-owner without the ability to force a buyout of this minority investor’s ownership stake. For at least some majority owners of private Texas companies, however, another…

Texas Fiduciary Litigator

Presentation: Temporary Injunctive Relief in Texas

By Winstead on July 30, 2019

David F. Johnson, lead writer for the Texas Fiduciary Litigator blog, presented his paper on “Temporary Injunctive Relief in Texas” to the State Bar of Texas’s Advanced Civil Trial Course in San Antonio, Texas, on July 18. His presentation covered advanced issues in seeking temporary injunctive relief or defending against a request for that relief. David will also present this topic at the course’s location in Dallas on August 22, 2019 and Houston on…

Texas Fiduciary Litigator

In A Suit To Reform A Trust, A Texas Court Holds That There Was A Fact Issue On The Settlors’ Intent And Remanded For A Fact Finding

By David Fowler Johnson on July 24, 2019

In In re Ignacio G. & Myra A. Gonzales Trust, a couple formed a trust and named their daughter as the trustee. No. 06-19-00014-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 4648 (Tex. App.—Texarkana June 6, 2019, no pet. history). The trust identified the settlors’ children as the two children that they had together. However, the trust then used the undefined term “descendants” in discussing beneficiaries. After the settlors’ death, the trustee filed suit to declare that the…

Texas Fiduciary Litigator

Because Fraud By Nondisclosure Cannot Occur After A Transaction Is Consummated, Employees Generally Do Not Owe A Duty To Disclose Their Employers’ Breaches of Contract To Third Parties

By David Fowler Johnson on July 12, 2019

In CLC Roofing v. Helzer, a roofer purchased shingles from a seller and stored them on the seller’s property. No. 02-17-00229-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 5927 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth July 11, 2019, no pet. history). Six months after the relevant purchase was consummated, the seller, who was in financial trouble, returned the buyer’s shingles to a manufacturer to pay down a debt owed by the seller. The seller then went into bankruptcy. The purchaser then…

Texas Fiduciary Litigator

Estate Representative May Not Need To Post A Bond To Supersede A Judgment in Texas

By David Fowler Johnson on July 3, 2019

In Wheatley v. Farley, a trial court entered an order awarding relief to both parties, and both parties appealed. No. 08-18-00106-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 4626 (Tex. App.—El Paso June 5, 2019, no pet. history). One party was a dependent administrator, and the trial court ruled that he did not have to post a supersedeas bond to stay execution of the judgment. The court of appeals affirmed this ruling: Section 351.002 provides that an appeal…

Texas Fiduciary Litigator

Federal District Court Holds That A Former Director Of Nonprofit Did Not Have Standing To Sue For The Board’s Breach Of Fiduciary Duty And That Employers Do Not Owe Fiduciary Duties To Employees

By David Fowler Johnson on July 3, 2019

In Garcia v. Communities in Schools of Brazoria County, a director sued a nonprofit’s board for breach of fiduciary duty arising from his removal. 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97017 (S. D. Tex. June 10, 2019). The board alleged that he did not have standing to bring such a claim, and the district court agreed: Garcia lacks standing to bring a derivative claim for the Joint Venture Board’s alleged breach of fiduciary duty or ultra vires…

Texas Fiduciary Litigator

Recorded Webinar – Trustee Quandary: Criminal Acts By Beneficiaries With Or On Trust Property

By Winstead on June 27, 2019

David F. Johnson, lead writer for the Texas Fiduciary Litigator blog, discusses rising drug abuse issues and the possibility that a beneficiary of a trust may commit criminal activities on or with trust property. This webinar provides suggestions for trustees in this situation and address several important concerns, including the duty of loyalty the trustee owes the beneficiary and its limits, the duty to properly manage trust assets, the duty to report criminal activity, and the duty to…

Securities Litigation and Regulatory Enforcement

Fifth Circuit Overturns Receiver’s Settlement Barring Third-Party Claims Against Stanford Financial Insurers

By Toby M. Galloway & Matthias Kleinsasser on June 25, 2019

The Fifth Circuit overturned a U.S. District Court’s approval of a settlement between Ralph Janvey, the Receiver for Stanford International Bank, and various insurance company Underwriters, under which the Underwriters had agreed to pay $65 million to the Stanford Receivership estate. Writing for the Court, Judge Edith H. Jones held that the District Court abused its discretion in approving the settlement because the injunction issued by the District Court (referred to as a “bar order”)…

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Texas Court Held That A Trust Beneficiary Could Raise A Claim Against A Trustee’s Estate For An Interest In Trust Property And A Constructive Trust

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

Just in Time For Summer: The Freeze-Out Merger, A Legal Option Available to SOME Majority Owners of Privately-Held Texas Companies

Presentation: Temporary Injunctive Relief in Texas

In A Suit To Reform A Trust, A Texas Court Holds That There Was A Fact Issue On The Settlors’ Intent And Remanded For A Fact Finding

Because Fraud By Nondisclosure Cannot Occur After A Transaction Is Consummated, Employees Generally Do Not Owe A Duty To Disclose Their Employers’ Breaches of Contract To Third Parties

Estate Representative May Not Need To Post A Bond To Supersede A Judgment in Texas

Federal District Court Holds That A Former Director Of Nonprofit Did Not Have Standing To Sue For The Board’s Breach Of Fiduciary Duty And That Employers Do Not Owe Fiduciary Duties To Employees

Recorded Webinar – Trustee Quandary: Criminal Acts By Beneficiaries With Or On Trust Property

Fifth Circuit Overturns Receiver’s Settlement Barring Third-Party Claims Against Stanford Financial Insurers

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