In re Estate of Clark, 198 S.W.3d 273 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2006, pet. denied).
The appellate court agreed that the trial court did not abuse its
discretion in removing Executor from office. The estate has been under
dependent administration for over two decades and Executor had been in
office since 2000. The court reviewed Executor’s conduct and determined
that removal was appropriate under Probate Code § 222(b)(3) for failing
to obey a valid court order. The trial court had ordered Executor to
sell the estate’s remaining assets and almost three years later the
sales were not completed. There was also evidence that Executor had
overstated his progress by claiming in court reports that purchase
contracts existed when in reality they did not.
Moral: Executors should timely obey court orders or else risk removal
from office.