News & Analysis as of

Breach of Duty Trusts

Winstead PC

Does a Trustee Have A Duty to Investigate Whether the Trust Document is Valid?

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Elderly persons often sign new estate documents, including trusts and trust amendments. Certainly, all persons with competence and without improper influences have the right to leave their property to whoever, and however,...more

Walkers

Retiring trustee – reasonable security and retention of assets

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Under section 43(b) of the Trusts (Guernsey) Law, 2007, when a trustee resigns or is removed it may require that it be provided with reasonable security for liabilities before surrendering trust property....more

Charles E. Rounds, Jr. - Suffolk University...

When Hostilities Break Out Between Co-trustees, Where Does That Leave Trust Counsel?

When hostilities break out between individual co-trustees, incumbent trust counsel faces a representation conundrum. In §8.8 of Loring and Rounds: A Trustee’s Handbook (2025), see appendix below, we grapple with the...more

Charles E. Rounds, Jr. - Suffolk University...

Individual Trustee Delegates to Financial Institution the Job of Taking Custody and Keeping Track of Income and Principal: The...

While PC software programs are a practical improvement over the trustee’s hard-copy ledger book, when it comes to keeping track of trust income and principal these programs still require serious clerical monitoring on the...more

Winstead PC

Court Holds That Contingent Remainder Beneficiary Has Standing To Sue Trustee For Breach Of Fiduciary Duty

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In In re Est., the court of appeals dealt with whether a contingent beneficiary can file claims against a trustee. No. 02-23-00104-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 1878 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth March 14, 2024, no pet.)....more

Charles E. Rounds, Jr. - Suffolk University...

When the centerpiece of a trustee’s defense in a breach-of-fiduciary-duty action is an empty file cabinet and a general lack of...

An incident of the trustee’s duty to be generally prudent, to account (or report) to beneficiaries, and to refrain from breaches of the duty of undivided loyalty, such as engaging in unauthorized self-dealing, is the...more

Winstead PC

Texas Supreme Court Reverses Order In Trust Dispute Granting A Constructive Trust

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In In re Trust A & Trust C, a beneficiary sued a trustee for breach of fiduciary duty and sought a constructive trust over assets that were transferred out of the trust. 690 S.W.3d 80 (Tex. 2024)....more

Downey Brand LLP

No Such Thing as a Free Ride: Section 859 Awards Can Now Go To Whoever Does the Work

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Newcomers to probate litigation are frequently surprised by how differently things work in probate court, as opposed to your more straightforward civil courts. (And how do those newcomers know how civil courts work?  Law &...more

Conyers

Trustee's Duty and Anti-Bartlett Clauses - The Ivanishvilli Redux

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Just when trustees are feeling safe to go back into the water after the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal spoke in Zhang Hong Li v. DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd [2019] along comes Ivanishvilli v. Credit Suisse Trust Ltd [2023]...more

Winstead PC

Court Affirmed Award Of Damages And Punitive Damages Against A Trustee Due To A Breach Of The Duty To Disclose, Held That A Trust...

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In Mendell v. Scott, a decedent had a trust that named him as primary beneficiary, and upon his death, the trust would continue for a niece provided that she did not commit a prohibited act. No. 01-20-00578-CV, 2023 Tex. App....more

Winstead PC

Court Held That The TCPA Does Not Apply To Claim Involving Texas Trust Code Section 113.28 And Suits Against Third Parties

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In McCoy v. McCoy, trust beneficiaries sued the trustee for breaching his fiduciary duties by pursing claims against a third party when they instructed him not to do so. No. 08-23-00119-CV, 2023 Tex. App. LEXIS 6604 (Tex....more

Warner Norcross + Judd

How Should a Personal Representative Respond When Interested Persons Disagree Over Validity of a Proffered Will?

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The Michigan Court of Appeals recently issued a decision that offers guidance as to how a personal representative should respond when the interested persons disagree over the validity of a proffered will. In re Estate of...more

Warner Norcross + Judd

Do Estate Beneficiaries Have a Default Right to Live in Estate Property Rent Free Until the Property is Distributed?

Warner Norcross + Judd on

No, according to In re Estate of Elze D. Harris, Docket No. 362364 (September 28, 2023). In Estate of Harris, the decedent’s three children were embroiled in litigation over who should control their deceased father’s...more

Winstead PC

Court Affirms Receivership In Trust Case Based Solely On An Alleged Failure To Disclose And Did Not Require Traditional Equitable...

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In Moody Nat’l Bank v. Moody, a beneficiary sued a trustee regarding several allegations of breach of fiduciary duty. No. 14-21-00096-CV, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS 7844 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] October 25, 2022, pet....more

Winstead PC

Court Affirms Finding Of An Oral Trust And Breach Of Duty By The Trustee

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In Ahlgren v. Ahlgren, plaintiffs sued a defendant alleging that the defendant was a trustee of an oral trust who breached duties by refusing to return certain property. No. 13-22-00029-CV, 2023 Tex. App. LEXIS 4182 (Tex....more

Winstead PC

Court Affirmed Temporary Injunction Precluding A Surviving Spouse From Acting As Trustee Of A Trust

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In Kirkland v. Kirkland, a husband and wife created a revocable trust. No. 02-22-00469-CV, 2023 Tex. App. LEXIS 3598 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth May 25, 2023, no pet. history)....more

ArentFox Schiff

Minority Business Owners and Trust Beneficiaries May Be Able to Obtain Otherwise Privileged Documents

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In certain circumstances, shareholders of corporations and members of limited liability companies can obtain confidential communications between corporate management and the company’s attorney that would otherwise be...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Recent Cases of Interest to Fiduciaries: May 2023

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In the most recent installment of the McGuireWoods Fiduciary Advisory Services annual multipart series on recent fiduciary cases, developments in the law concerning various topics are examined through the following... ...more

Conyers

Make No Mistake: Examining the Hastings-Bass Rule on Fiduciaries’ Mistakes Under Cayman Islands Law

Conyers on

The Cayman Islands reformed its trust laws to provide a statutory mechanism by which flawed decisions of trustees and other fiduciaries can be set aside on application to the court. The codification of the Hastings‑Bass rule...more

Winstead PC

Texas Supreme Court Holds That The Incorporation Of AAA Rules Can Delegate Scope Issues To The Arbitrator, Which May or May Not...

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The Texas Supreme Court held that arbitration clauses in trust documents may be enforced regarding claims by beneficiaries against trustees. In Rachal v. Reitz, a beneficiary sued a trustee for failing to provide an...more

Lathrop GPM

(Almost) Ten Top Tips for Fiduciaries to Avoid Litigation

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​​​​​​​Fiduciaries sometimes find themselves in the unenviable position of facing conflict, whether with or among beneficiaries. In this article we offer some tips for preventing and managing conflicts and approaching the...more

McCarter & English, LLP

Case Summary: Parseghian v. Frequency Therapeutics, Inc.

In Parseghian v. Frequency Therapeutics, Inc., the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed a complaint for failure to state a claim as to Count II, which alleged that defendant Lucchino (the CEO of Frequency Therapeutics)...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Second Circuit Grants Fund’s Audit Request Well Beyond CBA Coverage

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In a decision that bodes poorly for unionized employers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently held that a union benefit fund was contractually entitled to conduct an audit whose scope far exceeded the...more

Winstead PC

[Webinar] Financial Services - Advising Trustees Who Manage Closely-Held Business Interests - September 27th, 10:00 am - 11:00 am...

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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

King & Spalding

Delaware Bankruptcy Court Enters Judgment for Lender Due to Inadequately Pled Damages Despite Clear Breach of Fiduciary Duties

King & Spalding on

On May 2, 2022, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware entered judgment, after a bench trial, for a lender on breach of fiduciary duty claims brought by the litigation trust for the borrower, finding that the...more

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