Texas, like many other states, prohibits a killer from receiving life insurance proceeds or inheriting from an estate. Such prohibitions are commonly referenced as either a "slayer statute" or a "slayer rule." The public policy is obviously that a killer should not financially benefit from a death he or she willfully causes. Given the sizes of many estates and life insurance policies, such scenarios are unfortunately not uncommon. Certainly, investigators and prosecutor will look to whether insurance or estate proceeds might have provided motive for a particular murder. There have even been some notorious cases of people taking out life insurance policies on acquaintances and then killing them for profit.
Read MoreMany assets pass through beneficiary designations. A significant part of my Texas estate litigation practice involves contesting life insurance beneficiary designations and contesting financial account designations. In Fielding v. Tullos, the Beaumont Court of Appeals considered a contest to financial account designations, based on claims of undue influence. The decedent had various financial accounts at UBS. He was widowed and had no children. His legal heirs included six nieces and nephews. A caretaker began working for the decedent and his wife in 1997. She continued working for the decedent after his wife died in in 2004. In 2004, the decedent executed beneficiary designations for various accounts at UBS.
Read MoreQuestions regarding the basics of contesting a will or defending a will contest are common from potential clients. Of course, every case is different. The most important guidance I can provide is to consult with an experienced probate litigator very, very early in the process. I can not count the number of times I've been asked to consider handling a will contest after the potential client has spent months or more with a lawyer who is a "family friend" or was seemingly picked at random.
Read MoreIn Estate of Harrell, the testator's daughter challenged her father's capacity to execute a will. The jury found he had capacity and the Houston Court of Appeals (1st. Dist.) affirmed that decision. The father executed the challenged will in 2012. The will specifically identified the daughter, but disinherited her. Instead, he gave his property generally to the sons of a close friend and to his brother. This was contrary to a will he had executed in 1999. The father died in 2016. Daughter contested the 2012 will, citing her father's alleged alcoholism and a hoarding disorder. She also cited the fact that his own name was misspelled in the will. The proponents of the will presented testimony from the drafting attorney and two of the attorney's employees, who served as witnesses to the will. Predictably, they testified it appeared he had capacity. But they did not know him well and could not recall details of conversations with him or the will execution.
Read MoreIn Mayfield v. Peek, the El Paso Court of Appeals considered a standing issue. Standing may sound like a dry issue, particularly to non-lawyers. But is a crucial issue to my practice of litigating Texas estate and trust beneficiary disputes. If a court rules that a party does not have standing, it will typically not even reach the merits of the underlying issue. In layman's terms, the courthouse doors are closed. Mayfield involved two siblings fighting over an inheritance from their parents. The parents had set up a family revocable trust their children and several other relatives. The trust was funded by several pieces of real property and other assets. The trust became irrevocable upon the death of the first parent.
Read MoreIn Estate of Danford, the County Court in Brazoria County had dismissed a will contest at the summary judgment stage. In essence, the trial court found that the contestants to the offered will had not presented sufficient evidence to get to trial on either lack of capacity or undue influence claims. The Houston 14th Court of Appeals disagreed. Regarding capacity, the court of appeals noted the following evidence from the contestants:
Read MoreA deed is typically considered a non-testamentary disposition. Property that has been deeded away, either directly or through a retained life estate, is not included in a grantor's estate at death. But are there ways to overturn a deed under Texas law? Yes. Like a will or an account/insurance designation, a deed can be set aside if a grantor lacked sufficient mental capacity to execute the deed. Or if the grantor was subjected to undue influence in executing the deed. The analysis will be similar to a will contest. Mental capacity is relatively straightforward, even if the proof is often complex.
Read MoreIn my experience, the vast majority of will contests and related estate disputes are ultimately resolved through settlement at mediation. The motivation for settlement is driven primarily by several factors:
Read MoreIn Texas Capital Bank v. Asche, the Dallas Court of Appeals affirmed the probate court's judgment that a series of estate planning documents should be set aside. The judgment was based on jury findings that the testator lacked sufficient mental capacity to execute the documents. This was not the classic case of challenged will executed in the days or weeks before death. In this case, the challenge was to a series of wills, codicils, and trust documents executed over a period of about 13 years. This was not an easy task for the contestants, given the long time period and number of documents executed. The challenge was largely based on the testimony of a forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Lisa Clayton. She opined that a stroke the testator suffered in 1997 rendered him without testamentary capacity until he died in 2011.
Read MoreA fairly common scenario in estate litigation involves a claim from a widow to a share of an estate. Often there is a claim of a common law marriage. Texas recognizes common law marriage under some circumstances. Once established, a common law marriage is effectively the same as a formal marriage. Even a formal marriage can be challenged, under limited circumstances.
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