In re Estate of Boren, 268 S.W.3d 841 (Tex. App. – Texarkana 2008, pet. denied).
The trial court determined that the named independent executor was unsuitable under Probate Code § 78(e). The appellate court
reviewed the evidence and determined that the court did not abuse its
discretion by acting in an arbitrary or unreasonable manner without
reference to any guiding rules or principles. There was evidence that
the named executor acted inappropriately when he was serving as the
agent for the testatrix and her husband in a variety of ways such as
using the principal’s property, misappropriating funds, and not paying
bills.
Moral: Strong evidence is needed to overturn a trial court’s finding
that a named executor is unsuitable.
Beneficiaries signed disclaimers of all property to which they would
be entitled from Testatrix’s estate prior to her death. On the same day
that Testatrix died, Beneficiaries filed revocations of those
disclaimers. The trial court held that the disclaimers were effective.
The appellate court reversed. The court explained that the disclaimers
were not filed in accordance with Probate Code § 37A but instead were
filed in the papers of Testatrix’s spouse’s guardianship. Filing in the
wrong place is both against the letter of the law and the policy of the
filing requirement which is to give notice to creditors and prospective
purchasers. Because Beneficiaries revoked their disclaimers before they
were properly filed, their attempt to revoke them was successful.
Moral: A disclaimer should be filed in the appropriate location as
mandated by Probate Code § 37A.