In re Rodgers, No. 13-22-00202-CV, 2023 WL 5282940 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi-Edinburg Aug. 17, 2023, no. pet. h.).
The trial court awarded attorney’s fees to the proponent of a will which was subject to an unsuccessful will contest action. The decedent’s alleged biological daughter who is not a beneficiary of the will appealed the attorney’s fee award. The appellate court dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction because the alleged biological daughter had no standing. She was not a beneficiary of the will and thus is not an interested person who has standing. She did not have a “property right in or claim against” the estate as required by Estates Code § 22.018. She also could not qualify as an “heir” even if paternity could be established because the testator died testate.
Moral: A person without standing may not contest an award of attorney’s fees.