Gilmore v. Rotan, No. 11-16-00253-CV, 2018 WL 4496232 (Tex. App.—Eastland Sept. 20, 2018, no pet.).
Residual trust beneficiaries filed suit alleging
that the trustees breached their fiduciary duties when they transferred
real property to themselves thereby depleting trust assets. The deed was
dated in 2003 and recorded in 2010. The appellate court upheld summary
judgment in favor of the trustees because the statute of limitations had
run prior to the beneficiaries filing suit in 2015.
A claim for breach of fiduciary duty is normally
governed by a four year limitation period which begins to run from the
date “the claimant knows or in the exercise or ordinary diligence should
know the wrongful act and resulting injury.” The court agreed that the
beneficiaries had both constructive and actual notice of the alleged
self-dealing conveyance when the deed was filed in 2010.
Moral: Lawsuits need to be filed before the
statute of limitations expires.