Estate Administration

Attorney’s Fees

Hartmann v. Solbrig, 12 S.W.3d 587 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 2000, pet. denied).

 

In a highly complex case which involved, among other things, an unnecessary sale by a guardian of specifically devised property and the testamentary creation of a right of first refusal to purchase specified estate property, the trial court awarded attorney fees and expenses to the independent executor. The appellate court upheld the award on a variety of grounds including (1) properly requested in a declaratory judgment action under Chapter 37 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, (2) authorized under Probate Code § 242, and (3) permitted under Probate Code § 149C. The court rejected arguments that the expenses were incurred in a personal capacity, in bad faith, or out of negligence, malfeasance, or self-dealing.

Moral: To defeat an award of attorney fees, an opponent must present evidence that the fees are excessive, unnecessary, incurred purely to benefit the executor individually, in bad faith, or out of negligence, malfeasance, or self-dealing.



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