Estate of York

934 S.W.2d 848, 1996 WL 648170
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 5, 1996
Docket13-96-004-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 934 S.W.2d 848 (Estate of York) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of York, 934 S.W.2d 848, 1996 WL 648170 (Tex. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

OPINION

DORSEY, Justice.

Victoria Bank & Trust Co., appellant, challenges the determination that it lacks standing to appear in an heirship proceeding brought by Kristopher Paige Gostecnik, ap-pellee. By two points of error, the bank contends that it is an interested party either as executor of Myrtle York’s estate or as trustee of the A.E. and Myrtle Gunn York Charitable Trust. By two cross-points, Gos-tecnik challenges the legal sufficiency of the evidence to support certain findings of fact filed by the trial court. We reverse and remand.

Charles York died in October 1991. His will provided that all his assets were to be placed into a testamentary trust for the benefit of Myrtle York, his mother and only known kin, during her life. Upon the death of Myrtle York, Charles York’s assets were to pass free and clear to Weldon and Kathleen Mallette, who disclaimed all rights to the estate in February 1992.

In March 1995, Gostecnik petitioned for a determination of heirship. He claimed to be Charles York’s illegitimate son and sole heir. Myrtle York filed a response to oppose Gos-tecnik’s claims and to reassert her own claims as sole heir of the Charles York estate. In August 1995, Myrtle York died before the conclusion of the heirship proceeding.

Victoria Bank qualified as the executor of Myrtle York’s estate and sought to continue pursuit of her claims in the heirship proceedings on behalf of her estate. After conducting a hearing on Gostecnik’s motion to strike Myrtle York’s pleadings and to dismiss her from the proceeding, the court ruled that the bank was not an interested party. The trial court consequently concluded that Victoria Bank had no standing in the heirship proceeding, struck Myrtle York’s pleadings, and dismissed the bank.

Under Myrtle York’s will, which was probated in the same court where the heirship proceeding was pending, Victoria Bank was made trustee of the A.E. and Myrtle Gunn York Charitable Trust. This trust was to be funded in part by the remainder interest in Myrtle York’s estate, which would potentially include assets that she might inherit from the estate of Charles York. Having been dismissed from the heirship proceeding in its capacity as executor of her estate, the bank sought to pursue Myrtle York’s claims in the heirship proceeding on behalf of the trust as trustee. The court again concluded that Victoria Bank had no standing in the heirship proceeding because it was not an interested party. .

The bank appeals from the trial court’s ruling that it has no standing as executor of Myrtle York’s estate or as trustee of the A.E. and Myrtle Gunn York Charitable Trust. Gostecnik bring two cross-points challenging the findings of fact underlying the court’s ruling.

By its first point of error, Victoria Bank contends that it may contest Gosteenik’s heirship claims because the executor of Myrtle York’s estate is an “interested person” under the Probate Code. Tex. PROB.Code Ann. § 3(r) (Vernon Supp.1996) (interested persons are “heirs, devisees, spouses, creditors, or any others having a property right in, or claim against, the estate being administered”). In order to show standing to file its opposition in the heirship proceeding, the bank must establish that it may assert such an interest. Id. § 10 (Vernon 1980).

The issue here is whether the estate of Myrtle York includes a property interest in the estate of Charles York and, if so, whether the executor of her estate has standing to assert that right.

The Mallettes validly disclaimed their interest in the corpus of the testamentary trust created to benefit Myrtle York during her lifetime. See Tex. PROB.Code Ann. § 37A (Vernon Supp.1996); Tex. Prop.Code Ann. § 112.010 (Vernon 1995). The effect of this disclaimer is that the bequest to the Mal-lettes will pass as if they had predeceased the transfer. See Tex Prob.Code Ann. § 37A; Tex. Prop.Code Ann. § 112.010(d). Accordingly, at Myrtle York’s death, her life interest in the testamentary trust ended, and *850 the remaining res became a portion of Charles York’s estate. Because his will contained no residuary clause, once the trust terminated, his property passed to his heirs by intestacy.

The parties dispute the effect of the Probate Code’s provision for the immediate vesting of the estate. See Tex. Prob.Code Ann. § 37. The bank contends that the estate vested with Myrtle York on Charles York’s death because heirship is “determined at the time of the decedent’s death,” when she was still the only known heir. However, the determination of the heirs ht law is the purpose of the heirship proceeding. The determination of heirship is not made “at” the decedent’s death but “as of’ the date and time of death. Sellers v. Powers, 426 S.W.2d 533, 537 (Tex.1968).

Because Charles York’s heirs must be determined as of the time of his death, Myrtle York lived to see her interest in the probate of her son’s will. She was an interested person in Charles York’s estate with standing to contest Gostecnik’s heirship claims. The trial court reached this same conclusion of law, which is uncontested. It is irrelevant whether Myrtle York’s interest was “real or prospective, absolute or contingent.” Muse, Currie & Kohen v. Drake, 535 S.W.2d 343, 344 (Tex.1976) (quoting Logan v. Thomason, 146 Tex. 37, 202 S.W.2d 212, 215 (1947)). Moreover, “an heir’s expectancy may be a proper subject of contract or conveyance.” Rivers v. Rivers, 346 S.W.2d 376, 378 (Tex.Civ.App. — Eastland 1961, writ refd n.r.e.). Accordingly, Myrtle York could have devised her interest at the time of her death. See Tex. Pbob.Code Ann. § 58(a) (Vernon Supp.1996). In light of this determination, we hold that Myrtle York’s interest in Charles York’s estate and heirship proceeding did not expire with her death and that her estate includes a property interest in the estate of Charles York.

The next question is whether the executor of Myrtle York’s estate is the proper party to assert her claims in the heirship proceeding. Neither party has cited any authority directly addressing whether an executor of one estate may assert that estate’s interest in another estate, and we have found none. We note, however, the supreme court has not foreclosed the possibility that an executor or some other representative may be an interested person under certain circumstances. Muse, Currie & Kohen, 535 S.W.2d at 344; Logan, 202 S.W.2d at 215. In Muse, Currie & Kohen, the supreme court noted that

while one may have occasion to contest a will in a representative capacity, such would be the case only when the person represented has a pecuniary interest in the estate.

Muse, Currie & Kohen,

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