Matter of Troy S. Poe Tr., No. 08-18-00074-CV, 2023 WL 4846788 (Tex. App.—El Paso, Jul. 28, 2023, no pet. h.).
The Texas Supreme Court in Matter of Troy S. Poe Tr., 646 S.W.3d 771 (Tex. 2022) held that Property Code § 112.054 did not create a statutory right to a jury trial for a trust modification proceeding. The court remanded to the El Paso court to determine whether the Texas Constitution provides a jury trial guarantee. The court held that neither the Bills of Rights nor the Judiciary Article provides a jury trial right in this situation.
The court explained that the Texas Constitution provides for jury trials in two situations. First, the Bill of Rights in Article I, § 15 states that the “right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate.” The Texas Supreme Court clarified that this right only exists if a jury trial would have been allowed under the law as it existed in 1876. At that time, jury trial rights did not exist in equitable actions such as those involving trust deviation. Thus, no right to a jury trial exists under the Bill of Rights.
Second, the Judiciary Article, Article V, § 10, provides jury trial rights to all “causes” in both law and equity regardless of whether a jury trial was available in 1876. Thus, the key issue is whether a trust modification action qualifies as a “cause.” The court conducted an extensive review of Texas court opinions explaining what constitutes a “cause.” The court rejected the argument a “cause” includes any case with a factual dispute. Instead, the court adopted the view that a “cause” is an action where a plaintiff seeks a personal judgment against a defendant which, if successful, yields a remedy or judgment against the defendant for some wrong the defendant committed. A trust modification action does not result in an enforceable judgment against a defendant. Instead, it merely modifies the terms of the trust. Accordingly, it is not a “cause” for which a jury trial is available.
The court then reviewed the trial court’s judgment and determined that it did not abuse its discretion when it modified the terms of the trust and that was permissible for the court to consider extrinsic evidence when deciding which modifications to make.
Moral: A person seeking a trust modification is not entitled to a jury trial.