Rachel Conover, Individually and as Trustee and Beneficiary of the Rachel Elizabeth Conover Trust Created by the Last Will & Testament of William Van Conover, III; Katherine Conover, Individually and as Beneficiary of the Katherine Marie Conover Trust v. Ward S. Conover and James E. Tausig, Independent Co-Executors of the Estate of William Van Conover, II, and Connie Conover

CourtTexas Court of Appeals, 1st District (Houston)
DecidedFebruary 26, 2026
Docket01-24-00471-CV
StatusPublished

This text of Rachel Conover, Individually and as Trustee and Beneficiary of the Rachel Elizabeth Conover Trust Created by the Last Will & Testament of William Van Conover, III; Katherine Conover, Individually and as Beneficiary of the Katherine Marie Conover Trust v. Ward S. Conover and James E. Tausig, Independent Co-Executors of the Estate of William Van Conover, II, and Connie Conover (Rachel Conover, Individually and as Trustee and Beneficiary of the Rachel Elizabeth Conover Trust Created by the Last Will & Testament of William Van Conover, III; Katherine Conover, Individually and as Beneficiary of the Katherine Marie Conover Trust v. Ward S. Conover and James E. Tausig, Independent Co-Executors of the Estate of William Van Conover, II, and Connie Conover) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Texas Court of Appeals, 1st District (Houston) primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Rachel Conover, Individually and as Trustee and Beneficiary of the Rachel Elizabeth Conover Trust Created by the Last Will & Testament of William Van Conover, III; Katherine Conover, Individually and as Beneficiary of the Katherine Marie Conover Trust v. Ward S. Conover and James E. Tausig, Independent Co-Executors of the Estate of William Van Conover, II, and Connie Conover, (Tex. Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

Opinion issued February 26, 2026

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-24-00471-CV ——————————— RACHEL CONOVER, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS TRUSTEE AND BENEFICIARY OF THE RACHEL ELIZABETH CONOVER TRUST CREATED BY THE LAST WILL & TESTAMENT OF WILLIAM VAN CONOVER III; KATHERINE CONOVER, INDIVIDUALLY, AND AS BENEFICIARY OF THE KATHERINE MARIE CONOVER TRUST; AND DEBORAH SHAMBAN, TRUSTEE OF THE KATHERINE MARIE CONOVER TRUST, Appellants/Cross-Appellees v. WARD S. CONOVER AND JAMES E. TAUSIG, INDEPENDENT CO- EXECUTORS OF THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM VAN CONOVER, II, Appellees and CONNIE CONOVER, Appellee/Cross-Appellant

On Appeal from Probate Court No. 1 Harris County, Texas Cause No. 491,483 MEMORANDUM OPINION

This appeal arises from a summary judgment granted in favor of the co-

executors of an estate (“co-executors”) involving claims related to the decedent’s

actions when he was executor of his son’s estate and trustee of testamentary trusts

for the benefit of his granddaughters. The granddaughters and successor trustee of

one of the trusts (“the appellants”) asserted the decedent breached his fiduciary duty

and committed fraud by non-disclosure. They also brought claims against the

decedent’s widow (“Connie”) for unjust enrichment and constructive trust. The trial

court granted the co-executors’ traditional summary-judgment motion based on the

statute of limitations and the exculpatory clause contained in his son’s will. The trial

court also denied the co-executors’ and Connie’s no-evidence summary-judgment

motions.

The appellants contend (1) genuine issues of material fact remain as to

whether the discovery rule and fraudulent concealment apply to defeat the co-

executors’ statute of limitations defense; (2) the co-executors waived their

exculpatory clause defense, and genuine issues of material fact remain as to whether

the decedent engaged in willful misconduct or gross negligence; and (3) genuine

issues of material fact remain regarding the appellants’ unjust enrichment and

constructive trust claims against Connie. The co-executors respond (1) the

appellants’ claims are barred as a matter of law; (2) the appellants failed to rebut the

2 valid exculpatory clause; and (3)the appellants’ claims against Connie fail because

they depend on the barred claims.

Connie cross-appealed, contending that the trial court erred by denying her

and the co-executors’ no-evidence summary-judgment motions because the

appellants presented no evidence of (1) damages; (2) benefit received by the

decedent; (3) unjust enrichment; and (4) an identifiable res that can be traced back

to the original property.

We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

Background

William Van Conover, III (“Van”) died in July 2001. At the time of his death,

he was unmarried and had two daughters, Rachel Conover, and Katie Conover, who

were ten and four, respectively. His will devised his residuary estate to his father,

William Van Conover, II (“Bill”) as trustee, to divide into equal shares and distribute

in trust for the benefit of Rachel and Katie. His will also appointed Bill as

independent executor of his estate.

By April 2002, Bill had filed Van’s inventory, appraisement, and list of

claims. The inventory included certain documents from the estate’s federal tax

return. Such documents showed, among other things, that the value of Van’s estate

3 was over $4 million1 and the Lagniappe Farms, Inc. and Lagniappe Interests, Inc.

were valued at $1.

In 2002, Deborah Shamban (“Debbie”), Rachel and Katie’s mother, asked for

information about the trusts, but Bill refused to give her any information. Bill’s

ex-wife and Rachel and Katie’s grandmother, Margarite Kirk, warned Debbie that

Bill mismanaged his sons’ trusts, but Debbie did not think Bill was mismanaging

Rachels’ and Katie’s trusts. When Rachel was in high school, Margarite gave Rachel

the same warning, but Rachel also did not believe her. Bill consistently paid for

everything Rachel and Katie needed, including education and living expenses.

However, Bill did not set up Rachel’s and Katie’s trusts until 2010, nine years

after Van’s death, and he funded each trust with only $619,504. Rachel and Katie

did not receive information regarding Van’s estate and relied on Bill to manage their

trusts. In 2014, Rachel’s trust was valued at roughly $1.1 million, and Katie’s trust

was valued at roughly $2 million.

In 2010, Rachel emailed Debbie asking for more allowance after learning

from Bill that her trust might not have enough money for her to get through college.

Debbie’s husband emphasized to Debbie that they needed to know how much was

1 Although the original inventory summary mistakenly listed the value of Van’s stocks and bonds as $1,550,601.00, resulting in the total gross value of Van’s estate being listed as $3,217.785, the attached schedules filed in support establish that the actual value of Van’s stocks and bonds was $2,814,467, resulting in the total gross value of $4,485,641.

4 in the trust to make a thoughtful and fair economic decision regarding Rachel’s

request. Bill would not tell Rachel how much was in her trust and told her that she

was entitled to know everything at age 35.

In 2014, Rachel signed an authorization form so that she could have the wealth

management firm make on-demand fund transfers between her trust and her personal

savings account. By 2016, Rachel had direct conversations with the wealth

management firm managing her trust, and by May 2017, she had received a detailed

portfolio report for her trust and instructed the wealth management firm to transfer

money into her personal account to cover her expenses.

In 2015, Katie turned 18. Bill told Katie she had a trust with $2 million in it

and gave her a credit card to use so that the trust would pay her expenses. She had

ongoing conversations about her trust with Bill and his assistant, Michelle Garza,

particularly when she had to pay tuition, rent, or bills related to her horses. Katie

knew Van’s estate was the source of her trust money but never asked which assets

from Van’s estate funded her trust.

When Bill died in 2021, Rachel became the successor trustee for her own trust,

and Debbie became the successor trustee for Katie’s trust. At that time, Rachel and

Katie discovered the estate tax return showing that Van’s gross estate was over $4

million when he died in 2001 and that the Lagniappe Farms, Inc. and Lagniappe

Interests, Inc. were valued at $1 each.

5 They also discovered that Bill filed estate tax returns annually until 2015

which showed the estate was generating income, but they did not know what

happened to the assets or the income generated by the assets.

Despite further investigation, they could not find records showing various

proceeds from estate assets were deposited into their trusts, but they found Bill had

taken out at least one express credit line loan on behalf of Van’s estate in 2007.

The appellants asserted breach of fiduciary duty and fraud by non-disclosure

claims against the co-executors of Bill’s estate and unjust enrichment and resulting

trust claims against Bill’s widow, Connie. Connie moved for summary judgment

based on no evidence, and the co-executors moved for no-evidence and traditional

summary judgment. The trial court granted the co-executors’ traditional summary

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Rachel Conover, Individually and as Trustee and Beneficiary of the Rachel Elizabeth Conover Trust Created by the Last Will & Testament of William Van Conover, III; Katherine Conover, Individually and as Beneficiary of the Katherine Marie Conover Trust v. Ward S. Conover and James E. Tausig, Independent Co-Executors of the Estate of William Van Conover, II, and Connie Conover, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rachel-conover-individually-and-as-trustee-and-beneficiary-of-the-rachel-txctapp1-2026.