Robert Litoff v. David Case, Trustee

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 29, 2025
Docket03-24-00400-CV
StatusPublished

This text of Robert Litoff v. David Case, Trustee (Robert Litoff v. David Case, Trustee) 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
Robert Litoff v. David Case, Trustee, (Tex. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN

NO. 03-24-00400-CV

Robert Litoff, Appellant

v.

David Case, Trustee, Appellee

FROM THE PROBATE COURT NO. 2 OF TRAVIS COUNTY NO. C-1-PB-24-000672, THE HONORABLE NICHOLAS CHU, JUDGE PRESIDING

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Robert Litoff appeals the trial court’s dismissal of his suit against David Case under

Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 91a. David serves as the trustee of a trust for which Robert is the

primary beneficiary, and Robert sued to modify the terms of the trust and demand an accounting

from David. 1 Because Robert’s claims have a basis in law and fact, we reverse.

BACKGROUND

In 1967, in New Haven, Connecticut, Louis and Rose Litoff executed an irrevocable

trust agreement that established four trusts named for each of their four children, including Robert.

Each Litoff child’s trust held an equal quarter share of the assets controlled by the trust agreement

1 Because multiple individuals involved in this suit share the same last name, we refer to the parties by their first names for clarity. and identified that child as the primary beneficiary of his or her separate trust. The trust agreement

states that:

Upon the death of the last surviving primary beneficiary, the trustees shall distribute the then principal of each trust to the respective then living descendants of each primary beneficiary in equal shares per stirpes, or, if none, to the then living descendants of the settlors, in equal shares per stirpes, or, if none, to the then living descendants (not including the settlors) of the settlors’ most immediate ancestor having descendants then living, in equal shares per stirpes.

The trust agreement also provides rules governing the trustee’s actions, including:

No trustee at any time in office hereunder shall be required, in any jurisdiction, to furnish any bond or other security, to render any annual or other periodic accountings, or to obtain the approval of any court before applying, distributing, selling or otherwise dealing with any property.

The trust is designated a Connecticut trust, and its terms require it to be administered according

to Connecticut law, including any question regarding “the validity and effect of the

provisions hereof.”

In 2016, David began serving as the trustee of Robert’s trust. David and Robert,

who both live in central Texas, agree that they are friends and talk regularly. But Robert represents

that beginning in 2019, he “has made multiple written requests” of David in which he sought an

accounting of the trust. Robert alleges that David has “refused to provide information regarding

his compensation” and “terms of loans on Trust property” on his request. Robert maintains that

David’s “total failure” to keep him “reasonably informed of the administration of the Trust” is

“particularly problematic” because, as Robert alleges, David “has engaged in acts that appear to

breach his fiduciary duties.”

2 In March 2024, Robert sued David in Travis County Probate Court, asserting two

claims. 2 First, Robert sought judicial reformation and modification of two of the trust’s clauses.

Specifically, Robert asked the court to change the trust’s choice-of-law provision from applying

Connecticut’s laws to applying Texas’s laws. Robert also asked the court to reform the clause

governing the trustee’s duties such that the trust agreement would require the trustee to produce

an annual accounting to all beneficiaries upon request. Second, Robert sought a statutory

accounting and requested that the court remove David as trustee if he failed to timely provide one,

then appoint a new trustee nominated by Robert. Alternatively, Robert requested that the court

“compel disclosure of all material facts necessary to protect [his] interests,” including “a complete

list of assets currently owned by the Trust and their current market value,” “all transactions entered

by David as trustee,” “all transactions between David . . . and the Trust,” “a complete report of

David’s compensation,” “profit and loss information for all Trust assets,” “all terms of the

contracts concerning Trust property,” and “all debts owed by and to the Trust.”

David responded with a general denial, affirmative defenses, and a motion to

dismiss under Rule 91a, which he set for a hearing. Before the motion-to-dismiss hearing, Robert

and David stipulated to several facts, including that Robert has descendants who are beneficiaries

of his trust, that all the trust assets are in Texas, and that David has offered to provide Robert with

an appraisal of trust assets. After the hearing, the trial court dismissed Robert’s claims with

prejudice under Rule 91a. Robert appeals.

2 Robert’s petition incorporates the above language from the trust agreement and attaches the trust agreement to the pleadings. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 59 (providing for incorporation of certain exhibits into pleadings). 3 STANDARD OF REVIEW

Rule 91a allows a party to “move to dismiss a cause of action on the grounds that

it has no basis in law or fact.” Tex. R. Civ. P. 91a.1. “A cause of action has no basis in law if the

allegations, taken as true, together with inferences reasonably drawn from them, do not entitle the

claimant to the relief sought.” Id. “In ruling on a Rule 91a motion to dismiss, a court may

not consider evidence but ‘must decide the motion based solely on the pleading of the cause of

action, together with any [permitted] pleading exhibits.’” In re Farmers Tex. Cnty. Mut. Ins.,

621 S.W.3d 261, 266 (Tex. 2021) (orig. proceeding) (citing Tex. R. Civ. P. 91a.6); see Tex. R.

Civ. P. 59.

When reviewing a dismissal under Rule 91a, we construe the pleadings liberally in

favor of the petitioner and accept as true his factual allegations but not his legal conclusions.

Carden v. Minton, Bassett, Flores & Carsey, P.C., No. 03-22-00513-CV, 2024 WL 3880035, at

*4 (Tex. App.—Austin Aug. 21, 2024, pet. denied) (mem. op.). “[W]hether a defendant is entitled

to dismissal under the facts alleged is a legal question.” In re Farmers, 621 S.W.3d at 266. “We

review the merits of a Rule 91a motion de novo.” Bethel v. Quilling, Selander, Lownds, Winslett

& Moser, P.C., 595 S.W.3d 651, 654 (Tex. 2020). And in construing statutory language, “[w]e

look to the plain meaning of the words in a statute as an expression of legislative intent.”

Abutahoun v. Dow Chem. Co., 463 S.W.3d 42, 46 (Tex. 2015); Commission on Hum. Rts. &

Opportunities v. Edge Fitness, LLC, 268 A.3d 630, 635 (Conn. 2022) (noting that Connecticut

courts “follow the plain meaning rule in General Statutes § 1-2z in construing statutes to ascertain

and give effect to the apparent intent of the legislature”).

4 DISCUSSION

On appeal, Robert contends that the trial court erred by dismissing his suit because

Connecticut and Texas law both provide legal bases supporting the relief requested in his petition

for judicial reformation and modification of the trust as well as his request for an accounting.

Though one of Robert’s judicial reformation and modification issues concerns the

trust’s choice-of-law provision, we must decide as a threshold matter which jurisdiction’s law—

Connecticut or Texas—to apply in determining whether Robert’s suit has a basis in law. Robert

offers argument supporting his positions under both Connecticut and Texas law, but David

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Robert Litoff v. David Case, Trustee, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robert-litoff-v-david-case-trustee-texapp-2025.