Probate and Fiduciary Litigation Practice Secures Significant Win in Harris County
Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s shareholders, Ryan Cantrell and Kathryn “Kelly” Shields, recently secured a significant win for a client in the Harris County Probate Court. In a contested will case, Chamberlain Hrdlicka probate and fiduciary litigation team represented one of the beneficiaries of a multimillion-dollar estate. The contestants, two remaining beneficiaries, did not file a lawsuit contesting the will until two years after the decedent’s passing. During that time, they elected to serve as trustees of their respective trusts, accepted distributions from these trusts, and participated in the sale of real properties that funded their trusts.
Arguing that the acceptance of benefits doctrine barred the claims the contestants asserted in their lawsuit, Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s team filed a motion for summary judgment and sought attorneys’ fees. The Harris County Probate Court granted Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s motion, dismissing all of contestants’ claims and any relief with prejudice, and awarded our client reasonable and necessary attorneys’ fees.
Associates Yliana Vicknair and Mariah Karigan assisted with the case.
Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s Probate and Fiduciary Litigation practice provides comprehensive representation in complex trust and estate disputes. With extensive legal expertise and a client-focused approach, the team handles complex will and trust contests for a diverse range of clients, including individual and organizational trustees, personal representatives, and executors, as well as trust and estate beneficiaries and institutional trust departments.
About Chamberlain Hrdlicka
Chamberlain Hrdlicka is a diversified business law firm with offices in Atlanta, Houston, Philadelphia, and San Antonio. The firm represents both public and private companies, as well as individuals and family-owned businesses across the nation. The firm offers counsel in appellate law, bankruptcy, commercial and probate litigation, construction law, corporate, employee benefits, energy and maritime law, ERISA, estate planning and administration, intellectual property, international and immigration law, labor and employment, privacy and data security, real estate, securities and finance, tax controversy and tax planning.