Guardianship Attorney - Case Results

Common-Law Spouse Jury Trial - Successfully Defeated Claim Against Estate by Alleged Common-Law Spouse

A woman alleged she was married to the Decedent through common law in order to increase her stake in his Estate from the $100,000.00 he left her as his "friend". The jury found there was no marriage. Instead of receiving $400,000.00 (one-third of the Estate) and the $100,000.00 specific bequest and monthly Social Security Benefits and Pension Survivor Benefits, she will likely receive nothing after attorney's fees and costs are assessed. Value of Estate: $1,200,000.00. Our client avoided having to pay $500,000 to the woman the jury found to be the Decedent’s girlfriend, not his wife.

Estate Worth $100,000,000.00 - Post-Death Marital Dispute Over Division of Property

After receiving in excess of $35,000,000.00 and after five years of litigation and eight days into a two-week jury trial, we settled an Estate lawsuit for $4,975,000.00 and our client netted/received $3,482,500.00. Our determination and resilience in seeing the case over the years and through to a trial prompted resolution and a great result for our client.

Will Contest - Estate Worth in Excess of $20,000,000.00 - Under the Will, Our Clients Entitled to Zero, Settled and Our Clients Received $3,000,000.00

We represented four of ten children against their father’s third wife, not our client’s mother; he had left his entire estate worth millions of dollars to her. After a long battle, we settled the case for cash, acreage, and oil and gas rights worth in excess of $20,000,000.00; our clients continue to receive oil and gas royalties today. We settled for in excess of $4,400,000.00 and our clients received $3,000,000.00. The settlement represented more than they could win at trial.

Successfully Set Aside $1,200,000.00 Default Judgment & Obtained Take Nothing Judgment

Our client contacted us after finding out that a default judgment had been entered against him for in excess of $1,200,000.00. We successfully obtained a reversal of the default judgment and, later, a take-nothing judgment finding no fault and zero damages.his wife.

Will Contest Jury Trial - Successfully set aside Will as invalid in $1,000,000.00 Estate.

In the final months of our client's father's life, our client's father executed a will disinheriting our client, his only child, leaving the majority of his Estate to his second wife. We successfully contested the Will obtaining a unanimous jury verdict finding the Will invalid. As a result, our client rightfully received her inheritance as his heir. Value of Estate: $1,000,000.00. The Decedent's one-half of the community property and two-thirds of the Decedent's separate personal property, two-thirds of the Decedent's separate real property, and a remainder interest in the one-third life estate in the Decedent's separate real property inherited by the surviving spouse. After fees and expenses, our client received 2/3 of the Estate, or approximately $660,000. We were paid hourly.

In a Trust Contest, The Client Was Entitled to $100,000.00, Our Client Received $462,000.00

Our client was entitled to only $100,000.00 under the Trust Amendment her mother signed six months before her death. She was entitled to one-half of the Estate as one of two daughters of the Decedent and, after taking one deposition, we were able to successfully negotiate a settlement in her favor for $825,000.00. After fees and expenses, our client received $462,000.

Will Contest Jury Trial - Successfully Set Aside Will as Invalid in $1,000,000.00 Estate

We represented the wife of a doctor who left her nothing in his will after they had been separated for over twelve years. We obtained a unanimous verdict in a jury trial setting aside his will and our client inherited the entire community estate and her intestate share of his separate estate. Also, proved her child by a previous marriage was adopted by the doctor by estoppel and secured him a share of the inheritance as well. The jury verdict was affirmed on appeal. The Estate included a medical practice and was worth in excess of $1,100,000.00. Our client kept her one-half of their community property and one-third of the Decedent's separate personal property and a one-third life estate in the Decedent's separate real property. After fees and expenses, our client received approximately $700,000.

In Contest to Trust Amendment, Instead of Grandchildren Receiving Some Small Personal Property, They Settled and Our Clients Received $421,356,96

In an El Paso County Probate Court, we represented two grand-children against the wife of a grandfather attempting to set aside a trust amendment that left the wife the entirety of the property and left the grandchildren, essentially, nothing. We settled the case for $795,000.00 and our clients received $421,356.96.

Hired to Recover $100,000.00 in Survivorship Account Dispute, Settled and Our Client Received $294,000.00

We were hired to recover $100,000.00 wrongfully taken from two joint accounts of our client and her husband by his son. We discovered her husband had secreted additional assets in a trust operated by his son and we settled the case for $525,000.00 and our client received $294,000.00.

After Bench Trial, Defeated Adoption by Estoppel Claim

After trial to the bench, our client successfully defeated an effort by a granddaughter to prove she was adopted by estoppel by her grandfather. She received no inheritance.

Trial Upon Stipulated Facts - Successfully Argued Construction of Will in Favor of Our Client

We successfully convinced a probate court in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, to construe language in a codicil to a will restricting an inheritance to his "lawful blood descendants" to include a grandchild that was born out of wedlock.

Successfully Argued Against Jurisdiction Over a Canadian School District - Case Against It Dismissed

After a Special Appearance trial, we successfully proved a Canadian school district was not subject to Texas long-arm jurisdiction and the case against it in Dallas County, Texas was dismissed.

Successfully Defeated a Special Appearance (Claiming Lack of Jurisdiction) Filed by a Connecticut Company

Successfully defeated a Special Appearance filed by a Connecticut company by showing its contacts with Texas and that it was subject to both specific jurisdiction and general jurisdiction in Texas (Dallas County Probate Court); the case was not dismissed.

Case Results

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