In Bird v. Carl C. Anderson, a trust beneficiary sued a defendant for usurping a trustee’s role and breaching fiduciary duties as a de facto trustee. No. 03-21-00140-CV, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 5036 (Tex. App.—Austin June 24, 2021, no pet. history). The plaintiff complained that the defendant “reinvested the proceeds into ‘high-risk and non-diversified investments that exposed the trusts and [their] beneficiaries to inappropriate levels of risk,’ causing the trusts to substantially diminish in value; distributed assets to himself, Jennifer, and perhaps others to the Foundation’s detriment; and had Jennifer sign all of the transactional documents in her role as trustee even though she was and is incapacitated.” Id. The defendant filed a motion to dismiss under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 91, arguing that there was no de facto trustee status in Texas. The trial court denied the motion, found that “Texas law recognizes the legal capacity of ‘de facto trustee’ in the context of the administration of private trusts,” but certified the issue for permissive appeal.
The court of appeals declined to accept the petition for interlocutory appeal.
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