In re Willa Peters Hubberd Testamentary Trust, 432 S.W.3d 358 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 2014, no pet.).
Father established a testamentary trust for
Daughter. After a dispute arose regarding the
depreciation allowance applicable to distributions from mineral income,
all the parties and their attorneys signed a mediated settlement
agreement modifying the terms of the trust. After the
probate court issued orders in compliance with the settlement agreement,
Daughter appealed.
Daughter claimed that the probate court lacked
jurisdiction to order the modification because the mediator (rather than
a trustee or a beneficiary) filed the petition.
Daughter pointed to Property Code § 112.054 which limits the persons who
may request deviation to trustees and beneficiaries.
The appellate court rejected Daughter’s contention explaining that the
mediator, a lawyer, was acting as an agent for the beneficiaries and
thus had authority to file the petition.
Moral: A person acting as an authorized
representative of a beneficiary has standing to file petitions on behalf
of the beneficiary.
Father established a testamentary trust for
Daughter. After a dispute arose regarding the
depreciation allowance applicable to distributions from mineral income,
all the parties and their attorneys signed a mediated settlement
agreement modifying the terms of the trust. After the
probate court issued orders in compliance with the settlement agreement,
Daughter appealed.
Daughter claimed that the probate court erred in
ordering the modifications under Property Code § 112.054 because the
order was inconsistent with the material purposes of the trust, she did
not agree to them, they did not conform with Father’s intentions, and
one of the modifications was not contained in the agreement.
The court carefully reviewed the trust and the modifications and
decided that the probate court abused its discretion in ordering some,
but not all, of the modifications. The court
explained that the parties could not agree to modifications that are
inconsistent with a material purpose of the trust because the statute
does not authorize these deviations.
Moral: The court will not authorize a
deviation from the terms of a trust that is not clearly authorized by
Property Code § 112.054 even if the beneficiaries agree to the change.