Herring v. Welborn, 27 S.W.3d 132 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 2000, pet. denied).
Wife’s estate was being administered in County Court at Law. Husband,
who was dissatisfied with the administration, brought suit in District
Court in the county in which the real property under dispute was
located. District Court granted a plea to the jurisdiction and awarded
Defendants sanctions against Husband for the amount they expended in
attorney’s fees.
The appellate court agreed that District Court was correct in dismissing
Husband’s claim for lack of jurisdiction. County Court at Law had the
authority to handle all matters incident to Wife’s estate to exclusion
of District Court even though the land was located in another county.
However, the court did not uphold the award of sanctions. Although
Husband attempted to stretch the law, there were no unexplained
misstatements and the legal authority was not misrepresented. Merely
because Husband’s argument lost was not a justification for sanctions.
Moral: Concerns about real property are handled in the court in which
the administration is pending even if that property is located in
another county.