“Trust and estate litigation can fracture families, destroy decades of hard work, and disrupt businesses. When possible we help families and fiduciaries avoid litigation, and when necessary we fight to protect our clients, preserve family relationships, and protect assets.”
James Maverick McNeel
Trust & Estate Litigation
Practice Group Leader
and Shareholder
The Trust & Estate Litigation Practice Group of Oppenheimer, Blend, Harrison and Tate, Inc. combines the advocacy skills of experienced trial lawyers specializing in fiduciary controversies with the firm’s historical strength in tax and estate planning law. Whether beneficiaries or fiduciaries, clients gain a unique advantage from the Group’s deep expertise and advocacy skills.
Our attorneys include Fellows in the American College of Trust and estate Counsel, Texas Super Lawyers, and Board Certified estate Planners, all led by James Maverick McNeel, who holds a Master of Law in Estate Planning and has proven courtroom success. Many firms consign trust and estate litigation matters to estate planners with limited courtroom experience, while others rely on civil litigators lacking a background in the highly complex tax and state law issues that drive controversies in this area. By contrast, our attorneys combine both the substantive legal expertise and litigation skills into one formidable, effective and efficient package representing clients throughout Texas and in Florida on probate and trust disputes, and contested guardianship matters.
Our Clients
Clients include corporate and individual trustees of family, marital and charitable trusts, executors of estates, beneficiaries under trusts and wills, and persons with claims against trustees and executors. Examples of the types of disputes our attorney’s address, include:
- Will and Trust contests, including challenges for lack of capacity and undue influence
- Proceedings to interpret ambiguous provisions in Wills and Trust agreements
- Defense and prosecution of claims involving breach of fiduciary duty by Trustees, Executors and Beneficiaries, such as property mismanagement claims, refusal to provide accountings, or to distribute assets.
- Disputed fiduciary compensation
- Actions to remove fiduciaries
- Claims arising out of third-party transactions with decedents and fiduciaries
- Implementing Family Settlement Agreements to resolve controversies
- Reforming defective charitable, family and marital trusts for tax and other purposes
- Representing Guardians, Wards, and family members in disputed guardianship proceedings
Our Expertise
We represent corporate and individual executors and trustees in a wide variety of matters in the areas of administration and litigation.
Corporate fiduciaries and their in-house counsel rely on us to provide guidance and review trust policy manuals, and administrative procedures. Banks and their officers also know that when a dispute arises we have the expertise and experience to represent their institution’s interests. Beneficiaries rely on us when an executor or trustee fails or refuses to carry out their duties properly.
Trust and estate litigation can be a costly enterprise. We analyze whether joint representation is warranted for similarly-situated beneficiaries, and we protect a party’s right to be reimbursed from a trust or probate estate to pay legal expenses when appropriate, or challenge such payments when they are not.
Trust and estate disputes have the potential to disrupt families and financial institutions, which is why our attorneys work to establish a trusted relationship with our clients in order to ensure that their needs and priorities are discussed and strategically implemented. By involving clients in the decision-making process, we are able to assure that the benefits and risks involved in a controversy are met with the best possible solution, be it trial, arbitration, or settlement.
Contact Us
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