Mobil Oil Corp. v. Shores, 128 S.W.3d 718 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2004, no pet.).
Trustees sued Defendant to recover under-paid carbon dioxide
royalties arising from interests held in trust in statutory probate
court. The issue arose whether the statutory probate court had subject
matter jurisdiction of Trustees’ claims. The appellate court examined
the applicable (1999) versions of Probate Code §§ 5 & 5A and concluded
that the statutory probate court lacked jurisdiction.
The court explained that Trustees’ claims did not fall within any of the
enumerations in the Probate Code and thus before the statutory probate
court had jurisdiction, it must first be established that the district
court had jurisdiction under Trust Code § 115.001. Trustee’s cause of
action is not expressly listed in this section. However, Trustees argued
that the proceeding was nonetheless one “concerning” a trust under §
115.001(a)(6) or (a)(7) because the Trust Code grants trustees the
ability to enter into mineral leases and to contest claims by or against
a trust.
The court rejected this argument stating that “[t]he mere fact that a
plaintiff happens to be a trustee, however, does not transfer a case
into one ‘concerning trusts.’” Id. at 725. Accordingly, because the
District Court did not have jurisdiction over this case under the Trust
Code, the co-extensive jurisdiction of the statutory probate court was
not triggered.
Note: See also Shell Cortez Pipeline Co. v. Shores, 127 S.W.3d 286 (Tex.
App.—Fort Worth 2004, no pet. h.).
Moral: As stated by the court, “[t]he mere fact that a plaintiff happens
to be a trustee * * * does not transfer a case into one ‘concerning
trusts.’” Thus, a statutory probate court does not have jurisdiction
over a case merely because the plaintiff is a trustee.
Important Note: The 2005 Texas Legislature effectively overruled Mobil
Oil by amending Probate Code § 5(e) to provide that the statutory
probate court has jurisdiction over all actions “by or against a
trustee.” The change applies only to an action filed on or after
September 1, 2005.