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The Art of Law

Every endeavor
has its own art, whether it’s hitting
a baseball, writing
a symphony,
or handling a lawsuit. In the
legal arena there’s an art to envisioning solutions where others see problems. It has
to do with understanding how to resolve matters in a way that benefits each client. It has to do with the art of helping clients contain problems and expand opportunities.

Carrington Coleman’s Probate and Trust & Estate Litigation practice group handles a wide variety of complex probate and trust & estate matters in the Texas probate and district courts.  Our experience includes will contests, trust contests, jurisdictional issues involving estates and trusts, breach of fiduciary duty claims, heirship issues, and other contested matters that relate to a variety of estate planning techniques, devices and methods.

We draw on our strong background in business litigation to pursue or defend litigation involving trusts and estates, which often contain complex investment vehicles, corporate/securities issues, accounting issues, and other financial issues that are at the heart of many other matters we handle.  We also draw on the deep experience of our estate planning attorneys when technical probate and estate issues arise.  Our internal collaborative approach to client representation is especially effective in matters of this type where our clients benefit from our broad spectrum of experience in the various substantive legal areas implicated in these complex cases. 

These cases often involve disputes within a family that can be emotional and difficult.  Our attorneys’ counseling skills and ability to focus in on the needs of our clients make us particularly adept at guiding clients through their cases.  We devise creative solutions and approaches that serve not only our clients’ legal needs, but also their other concerns and the delicate issues that accompany these matters.

Representative Cases and Experience:

  • Represented caretaker of an elderly woman when caretaker was named as primary beneficiary of the woman’s estate, including a “living trust.”  Elderly woman’s children filed a contest attempting to invalidate the trust and the caretaker as beneficiary.
  • Obtained dismissal of a will contest on the basis that the Plaintiff did not have standing to bring suit as an “interested person.”  Successfully defended appeal of probate court’s dismissal order.
  • Represented sister in connection with a family dispute involving a family-held corporation owned by siblings and remaining living parent through a trust structure created in connection with the parents’ estate plan.  Brought action on behalf of client and the family corporation to remedy undue influence of certain siblings in obtaining a larger than intended share of the family estate.
  • Represented daughter in suit against corporate administrator and trustee of her father’s estate to obtain partition of real property held in the estate.
  • Obtained removal of a lawsuit incident to an estate from the Amarillo district court where it was filed to a probate court in Dallas, where the estate was being probated.
  • Represented daughter as temporary administrator of her mother’s estate pending will contest by brother.  Estate included a wide variety of real and personal property, including oil and gas leases, trade accounts, stocks, bonds, and treasury bills. 

For more information, please contact:

Diane M. Sumoski
214-855-3086
dsumoski@ccsb.com

Related Practice Areas:

Trusts & Estates
Business Litigation

 

Not certified by the Texas Board of Legal Certification except as noted.