Large and Complex Estates in Corpus Christi

An estate becomes complex because of what it holds and who is contesting it, more than because of its size. Typical examples are a closely held company with no buy-sell agreement, mineral interests spread across several leases and three generations of heirs, or a second marriage with children on both sides and a trust signed late in life.

A county court at law has authority over large estates

Clients with large estates often ask whether a county court at law is the right place for their case, since county-level courts in Texas generally have limits on the civil cases they can hear. In Nueces County those limits do not restrict a large estate. Government Code §25.1802(a)(1) gives the county courts at law the jurisdiction provided by the constitution and general law for district courts, in addition to their jurisdiction over the estates of deceased persons under §25.1802(a)(5).

A business valuation dispute, a mineral title question, or a claim worth more than the rest of the estate is within the court’s authority. Section 25.1802(a)(6) adds concurrent jurisdiction with the district court in actions by or against a personal representative and in actions involving inter vivos, charitable and testamentary trusts, so a claim about a trust funded during life can also be brought in a county court at law.

Gov’t Code §25.1802(a)(1), (a)(5), (a)(6).

What makes an estate complex

These cases usually have several difficult parts at once. The most common are:

• A closely held business or partnership whose value depends on books only one side has seen.
• Mineral interests, royalties and leases that keep paying while the family argues about who owns them.
• Real property the family has used for years with no clean record of who holds what.
• A trust funded during life that holds most of what everyone assumed would pass under the will.
• An executor who is also a business partner, a tenant, a lender or a buyer of estate property.
• Litigation already on file, sometimes in more than one court, before anyone opened the probate.

When a related lawsuit is already on file

Large estates often come with litigation already pending, such as a partnership dispute in district court filed before anyone opened the probate. Where each case is filed, and in what order, affects what can be combined later and which court decides the central questions.

Moving or consolidating cases after the fact is not always possible, so this office collects the cause numbers, courts and pleadings in every related case before filing anything new.

Preparing a complex case for a busy court

The county court at law judges who hear these cases also hear other civil matters, so hearing time is limited. Each setting should decide something specific. Valuations and accountings are finished before relief is requested, and each motion asks for a particular order.

A party in a contested probate proceeding is entitled to a jury under Estates Code §55.002. In a county court at law that jury has six members unless other law requires twelve (Gov’t Code §25.1802(o)). Filings go through the Nueces County District Clerk, which serves as clerk of the county courts at law in these cases under §25.1802(n).

Where the estate needs court supervision over sales and payments, dependent administration provides it. Where the money sits in a trust, the dispute is trust litigation and is governed by the Property Code. For estates this office administers, the federal estate tax return (Form 706) and fiduciary income tax returns (Form 1041) are prepared here as part of the administration.

What this office does

Kreig LLC handles contested matters: will contests, removal of an executor or administrator, breach of fiduciary duty, contested heirship, inherited property disputes and trust litigation. The full list is on the practice page.

The Corpus Christi office is at 710 Buffalo St., Suite 802, by appointment, and the firm takes matters in Nueces, San Patricio, Kleberg, Aransas and Jim Wells counties.