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Lee v. Hersey, 223 S.W.3d 439 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2006, pet. denied).

Estate Administration

Jurisdiction

A statutory county court at law with original probate jurisdiction rendered a verdict against Executor in a breach of fiduciary duties action involving an amount in controversy over $100,000 which would be beyond the court’s jurisdictional limit under Tex. Gov’t Code §§  21.009 and 25.0003.  Executor appealed claiming that the judgment was void for lack of jurisdiction.

The appellate court held that the statutory county court at law had jurisdiction because the matters it heard were incident to the decedent’s estate under Probate Code § 5A(a).  The plaintiffs alleged varies breaches of Executor’s fiduciary duties including his failure to fund a testamentary trust.  The suit also involved Executor’s claims to recover estate assets further demonstrating that the litigation was incident to the decedent’s estate.  Accordingly, the jurisdictional amount limit of the Government Code was not controlling.

Moral:  A statutory county court at law with original probate jurisdiction may hear probate cases which involve amounts exceeding the court’s usual jurisdictional limits.

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