An independent executor, a dependent administrator, a trustee and a guardian all owe the same basic duty to put the family’s interests ahead of their own. When one of them breaks it, the remedy Texas law gives you depends on which role that person holds, and so does the way the case is brought in a Travis County probate court.
Independent executor. An independent executor runs the estate with very little court supervision but still owes every beneficiary loyalty, care, disclosure and impartiality. The usual first step is a written accounting demand under Estates Code 404.001, followed by a suit to compel if nothing comes back. Removal is available under 404.003 and 404.0035.
Dependent administrator. A dependent administrator can act only with the court’s permission. Selling estate real property takes a written application under Estates Code 356.251 and 356.252, and once there’s a buyer, a sworn report of the sale that the court has to examine and rule on under 356.551 and 356.552. Those are the moments to object, because stopping a bad sale before the court approves it is far easier than unwinding it after it closes.
Trustee. A trustee holds legal title for someone else’s benefit under the trust document and the Texas Property Code, and is often the same person as the executor. A beneficiary can demand a written accounting and sue to compel it under Property Code 113.151. A trustee or beneficiary can also petition the court to modify the trust or change the trustee under 112.054.
Guardian of the person or estate. A guardian owes duties to a living ward, who often can’t pick up the phone and complain. A guardian can be removed under Estates Code 1203.051 or 1203.052. If a party prosecutes or objects to an application in bad faith or without just cause, the court can order that party to reimburse the ward’s estate for attorney’s fees under 1155.054(d).
The facts behind these claims tend to look alike, whether it’s a house sold cheap to a cousin or estate money sitting in someone’s personal account. We usually plead removal alongside the damages claim, because removing a fiduciary doesn’t by itself recover what’s missing.
Fiduciary cases are won with documents. That means bank statements, closing files, tax returns, the inventory and any accounting the fiduciary has produced. Two statutes let you demand records before discovery even starts.
Estates Code 404.001: once 15 months have passed since the clerk first issued letters testamentary or of administration, an interested person may demand a sworn accounting from the independent executor. If the executor doesn’t deliver it within 60 days, the person who made the demand may sue in the probate court to compel it.
Property Code 113.151: a beneficiary may make a written demand on the trustee for a statement of accounts. If the trustee hasn’t delivered it within 90 days, the beneficiary may sue to compel it, and if the beneficiary wins, the court may award attorney’s fees and costs against the trustee.
When the same person is both executor and trustee, send both demands at the same time. The two accountings often don’t match, and the difference between them is frequently where the case is.
In most Texas counties, trust litigation goes to district court. Travis County has two statutory probate courts, and those courts can hear trust disputes as well.
Property Code 115.001(a) gives district courts original and exclusive jurisdiction over trust proceedings, and subsection (d) carves out jurisdiction conferred by law on a statutory probate court. Estates Code 32.006 gives a statutory probate court jurisdiction over actions by or against a trustee and actions involving a trust, and 32.007 gives it concurrent jurisdiction with the district court over those actions and certain actions involving a personal representative.
That lets the estate dispute and the related trust dispute be heard at 200 W. 8th Street, in Probate Court No. 1 or Probate Court No. 2, by a judge who learns the family’s history once. Williamson County works differently. Government Code 25.2481 gives it five county courts at law and it has no statutory probate court, so the same dispute filed there goes to a county court at law.
Two of the Travis County Probate Courts’ local rules affect almost every fiduciary case filed here.
Local Rule 4.2(b): remote appearances are prohibited in a contested case when documentary evidence will be presented during the hearing. Local Rule 4.3: the court prohibits affidavits signed by witnesses in lieu of live testimony or depositions unless authorized by law.
Fiduciary cases run on documents, so expect the fiduciary to testify in person, under oath, with the exhibits in front of them. A declaration drafted by their lawyer won’t stand in for that testimony. Plan for it from the first pleading: witnesses who expected to appear by video will need travel arrangements, and the exhibit work has to be done early.
Most people who call about a fiduciary haven’t yet worked out whether they’re dealing with a disorganized one or a dishonest one, and the answer shapes the whole case. A disorganized executor is still holding the estate well past the 15-month mark, sends an accounting that doesn’t balance and stops answering email. A dishonest one sends clean paperwork with a bad transaction buried in it.
Delay can usually be fixed with a formal 404.001 demand and a hearing set on a specific date. Dishonesty calls for tracing the money, a surcharge claim and, in most cases, a jury request.
If what you’re describing sounds like delay, tell us when you call (512) 273-7444, and we’ll tell you whether a demand letter will be enough. If the dispute also reaches the will itself, read our page on contested wills in Travis County, because a will contest runs on a shorter deadline.
We’ll tell you which of these remedies fits the person holding your family’s property, and whether the numbers justify using it. Bring the inventory, any accounting you’ve received and whatever bank records you can get.
The first consultation is free and usually short.