Lost Trust Litigation

Although I primarily handle trust litigation matters in Houston, Texas, my work
sometimes takes me to some of Harris County’s neighbors. A recent trust litigation case took me to the Washington County Courthouse in Brenham, Texas (home of Blue Bell ice cream).

This particular trust litigation client’s quandary involved a broken chain of title. My client’s (we will call him Travis) wife (we will call her Maria) had recently passed away leaving a house and some land that had previously belonged to her mother (we will call her Momma). Travis had found a buyer for the property, but the title company would not insure title due to a defect in the “chain of title”. Think of each legal document (such as a deed) passing title from one property owner to the other as a “link” in the chain of title. If there is a missing link the title company will not issue a title insurance policy. In Travis’ case, the title company had discovered that the chain stopped at Momma and that there were missing links between Momma and Travis. My job was to establish the links between Momma and Travis so that Travis could acquire title insurance and sell the property.

A short chat with Travis uncovered the following story. Apparently Momma had fallen for the sales pitch of a door-to-door salesman out of Houston, Texas and allowed him to sell her a revocable living trust to which she promptly transferred her homestead. Maria believed that when Momma died Momma’s property passed to her as Momma’s only child. After Momma’s death Maria took steps to put the property taxes for Momma’s property in her name, but nothing was done to legally pass title on the property.

When Maria passed away last year, she left a last will and testament that left everything to Travis. Until speaking to the title company Travis had believed that everything included Momma’s property. The problem, as I explained to Travis, was that even though Momma’s revocable trust may have left everything to Maria, steps still had to be taken to officially pass title to the property. At this point, I asked Travis to show me all the documentation he had. Travis provided me with the following documents:

A copy of the deed of Momma’s property from Momma, individually, to Momma, as trustee of her revocable trust;
A copy of Momma’s will;
A copy of Momma’s power of attorney.

Of course the absolutely most essential document needed for me to assist Travis with his broken chain of title problem, Momma’s trust, was missing. Travis then explained to me that he and Maria had searched and searched for Momma’s trust after Momma died, but had been unable to locate the document.

I began scanning the other documents that Travis had provided to me. The will was of no use because it gave all of Momma’s estate to the trust and did not provide for an alternative. Then it hit me. I noticed that Travis’ name and signature were on the will as a witness to Momma’s signature. The will and the deed had been signed on the exact same date. Perhaps Travis had witnessed the signing of Momma’s trust as well. Had he? Yes, not only had Travis witnessed Momma sign her trust, he had also read it over before she signed it. Having read Momma’s trust, we could prove up the existence of the trust and its terms through Travis’ oral testimony. Travis went on to recite for me the terms of the trust which included naming Maria as the successor trustee for Momma whose duty was to distribute the trust estate to herself individually upon Momma’s death.

In the next few weeks, I filed a petition with the Washington County District Court asking for the court to recognize Momma’s trust based on Travis’ testimony of his recollection of the trust’s terms. I was successful in having the court appoint Travis as Maria’s successor trustee with the power to transfer Momma’s property out of the trust and to himself. Through these efforts, I was able to mend the broken links in the chain of title and give Travis the power to sell Momma’s property.

If you need assistance with a trust litigation matter in Houston, Texas please call the Law Office of Paul A. Romano at 281-242-0995 or contact our Houston law offices.