competent
recei no pecuniary v. Beto,234S.W.2d695,698 benefitunderits terms.Scandurro
S'W'2dat 180(husband (Tex.C . App.--Waco1950,no writ).SeealsoLehmann,285
credibl witnessto will under which wife was legatee);Gamble,30 S.W. at 862 (wife
credibl witnessto will underwhich husbandwas legatee).Conversely,a person
interest as taking under a will is incompetentto testify to establishit' See
55Tex.393,397(1881);Nixon, Fowlerv. Stagner, TEX. TATESCODE$ 25a.002; 38Tex. 298. The Trial Courl ened by not allowing the attorneyor one of the
witn to provethe Codicil.
POINT F ERRORNOS.FOUR.FIVE AND SIX
THE AL C]OURTCOMMITTEDREVERSIBLEERRORIN NOT ADMITTING THE C ICII-TO PROBATEBECAUSETHE PROOFOF'FACTSIS ERRONEOUS.
THE L COURTCOMMITTEDREVERSIBLEERRORBECAUSETHE PROOF OF DE AND OTHER FACTS IS ERRONEOUS BECAUSE IT DOES NOT MENTI N A},IY DEFECTIN THE CODICILWHICH WOULD PREVENTiTS ADMI ION O PROBATE.
THE AL COIJRTCOMMIT]'EDREVERSIBLEERRORBECAUSETHE PLEAD GS AND CITATIONDO NOT REQUESTCOURTPROBATEWILL AND NOT E CODICiL.
"Proof of Death and other Facts",unlike the Application, which was
publi statesas follows: "ljpon informationand belief,Decedentalso left a Codicil to
his will "Codicil"), datedFebruary10,2014,which was neverrevoked,as far as I
know." R, Pp. 17-18. It givesno indicationthereis a problemwith the Codicil. Id.
The tor's Applicationto Probatewill states:
alsoleft a Codicil to his will pon informationand belief, Deceder-rt icil").datedFebruary10.2014,whichwasneverrevokedandis led . The subscribingwitnessesto the Codicil are Urlando olina and Miriam Vasquez,whosecurrentaddressesare unknown.
cR.,p. . The notary to the Codicil is Angelina Reyes,who is also a witness. Id.
The Ex utor amendedhis Application,and it is silentas to the Codicil. CR., p'
on March19,2015,states: 19-20. e Citation,published
At,L PERSONSinterestedin the Estateof LOUIS S. BERNAL, ECEASED.AKA LOUISS.BERNAL,JR.,number2015PC0983, HILIP BERNAL has filed in the ProbateCourt No. I of Bexar County, exas,an applicationfor the probateof the last will and testamentand icil(s) of LOUIS S. BERNAL, DECEASED,AKA LOUIS S' ERNAL, JR...
cR.,p 7 TheAmendedApplicationwasnot publishedasof thedateof the
hearing cil.ationwas neverissuedon the AmendedApplication. The
Application did not put Appellant on notice of any defectin the Codicil.
Nothingin the Application or the AmendedApplication gives any notice that the
Codicil deficient;therefore,the Courl erredin not admitting the Codicil to
probate.
POINT F ERROR NOS. SEVEN. EIGHT AND NINE
THE E ECUTORBREACHEDHIS FIDUCIARYDUTY TOWARDDEVISEES LNDE TI-{ECODICIL, 'fHE E ECUTORCOMMITTEDFRAUDON THE COURTAND ON THE CODICIL BENEF IAR.IES.
THE BREACHEDDUTY OF ORDINARYCARETO THE BENEFCIARIESOF THE CODICIL.
a claimfor breachof a fiduciaryduty,there enerally,for a partyto establish
must ex a fiduciary relationship betweenthe plaintiff and defendant,the defendant
must ha breachedits fiduciary duty to the plaintiff, and the defendant'sbreachmust
resulti injury to the plaintiff"or benefitto the defendant.SeeBurrow v. Arqe, 997
s.w.2d 9 I 7 S.W.2d 924,934-35 (Tex. v. Guenther, , 238-39(Tex.1999);Hawthorne
App.- ont 1996,writ denied).
is one that e relationshipbetweenan executorandthe estate'sbeneficiaries
glves 11 to a fiduciaryduty as a matterof law. Huie v. DeShazo,9225.W,2d920,923
fiduciarydutyto the estate's (Tex.1 ). An executor's arisesfrom the beneficiaries
t0 execut s stafirsas trusteeof the property of the estate.HumaneSoc'y v. Austin Nat'l
Bank,5 1 S.W.2d 514,571(Tex.1975).Underthe EstatesCode,a decedent's estate
andheirsat law ofthe estate,subjectto legatees, ly vestsin the devisees,
payme o f th ed e ce d e ndt's TEX.ESTATES e b ts. 101.003, CODE$ 101.001, 101.05 1.
Theex tor thusholdsthe estatein trustfor thebenefitof thosewho haveacquireda
vested ht to the decedent'spropertyunderthe will. Seeid.
fiduciary dutiesowed to the beneficiariesof an