In re Ramsey, 28 S.W.3d 58 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 2000, no pet.).
Partner One died first followed by Partner Two. Partner One’s Heir
filed suit in District Court to establish the partnership and for
payment of the redemption price from Partner Two’s estate. Heir did not
present her claim in Probate Court. Partner Two’s Administrator obtained
an order from Probate Court transferring Heir’s lawsuit to Probate Court
under Probate Code § 5B. However, District Court on the same day refused
to the transfer Heir’s suit to Probate Court. Months later and after
being fully aware of Probate Court’s transfer order, District Court
appointed a receiver for the partnership and set the suit for trial.
Administrator sought a writ of mandamus to force District Court to
transfer the suit to Probate Court.
The appellate court conditionally granted the writ. The court determined
that Probate Court’s authority under Probate Code § 5B to transfer an
action incident to the estate to itself applies even though venue for
the action was proper in District Court. District Court was required to
transfer the suit. The court rejected Heir’s argument that the suit
should remain in District Court under the Uniform Partnership Act.
Moral: A district court has no discretion to prevent a transfer of an
action from itself to a probate court when the probate court issues a
transfer order under Probate Code § 5B.