Jurisdiction and Venue for Will and Trust Disputes in Texas

M. Keith Branyon (partner, Jackson Walker LLP) has published his article entitled Jurisdiction and Venue for Will and Trust Disputes, The Advocate, Fall 2009, at 61. 

An excerpt from the article is below:

Jurisdiction and Venue in will and trust disputes are difficult areas of law, particularly due to the interplay between the Texas Probate Code (“TPC”) and probate courts, on the one hand, and the Texas Trust Code (“TTC”) and district courts, on the other hand.  Complicating the situation even more is the reality that courts sitting in probate differ in jurisdictional scope.  The purpose of this article is not to exhaustively cover all of the nooks and crannies of these areas of law.  Instead, the focus will be on general concepts and how courts have construed them.  As the analysis begins, it is important to remember that improper jurisdiction will always be fatal, but faulty venue is not.