Court Opinion

ID: 9663072
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 23:27:09.552354+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:35:34.118972
License: Public Domain

SPECTOR, Justice,
dissenting.
The issue in this case is whether the attorney, David Elliott, owed a duty to Frances Barcelo’s intended beneficiaries. The majority holds that he did not. The other dissenting justices would recognize a broad cause of action in favor of any person claiming to be an intended beneficiary, regardless of whether the plaintiff is identified in the will or trust instrument. Because I would recognize only a limited cause of action for the intended beneficiaries of wills and trusts, I write separately to dissent.
At common law, an attorney owes no duty to third parties who may have been damaged by the attorney’s negligent representation of *582the attorney’s client. See Savings Bank v. Ward, 100 U.S. 195, 25 L.Ed. 621 (1879). As the majority notes, although Texas courts of appeals have consistently accepted this restriction in the estate planning context, most other states addressing this issue have lowered the privity barrier in this area. See Lucas v. Hamm, 56 Cal.2d 583, 15 Cal.Rptr. 821, 825, 364 P.2d 685, 689 (1961), cert. denied, 368 U.S. 987, 82 S.Ct. 603, 7 L.Ed.2d 525 (1962); Stowe v. Smith, 184 Conn. 194, 441 A.2d 81, 83 (1981); Needham v. Hamilton, 459 A.2d 1060, 1062 (D.C.1983); DeMaris v. Asti 426 So.2d 1153, 1154 (Fla.Dist.Ct. App.1983); Ogle v. Fuiten, 102 Ill.2d 356, 80 Ill.Dec. 772, 774-75, 466 N.E.2d 224, 226-27 (1984); Walker v. Lawson, 526 N.E.2d 968, 968 (Ind.1988); Schreiner v. Scoville, 410 N.W.2d 679, 682 (Iowa 1987); Pizel v. Zuspann, 247 Kan. 54, 795 P.2d 42, 51 (1990); In re Killingsworth, 292 So.2d 536, 542 (La. 1973); Hale v. Groce, 304 Or. 281, 744 P.2d 1289, 1292-93 (1987); Guy v. Liederbach, 501 Pa. 47, 459 A.2d 744, 751-53 (1983); Auric v. Continental Cas. Co., 111 Wis.2d 507, 331 N.W.2d 325, 327 (1983).
I believe that recognizing such a cause of action would further public policy by requiring attorneys to exercise due care in implementing a testator’s estate plan. Under current law, only the attorney’s client has standing to sue for negligent preparation of the will or trust. Although the testator’s personal representative would succeed to this cause of action upon the testator’s death, the estate itself may suffer no damage from an invalid will or trust that frustrates the testator’s intentions. See Heyer v. Flaig, 70 Cal.2d 223, 74 Cal.Rptr. 225, 228, 449 P.2d 161, 165 (1969); Guy, 459 A.2d at 749. Consequently, an attorney who negligently drafts a will or trust that is discovered to be invalid after the testator’s death is accountable to no one.
I would not go so far as to hold that attorneys who draft wills and trusts have a duty to persons who are not beneficiaries named in the will or trust. Recognizing such a broad cause of action is as likely to frustrate the testator’s intent as it is to carry it out. I would, however, ¡allow beneficiaries who are specifically identified on the face of an invalid will or trust to assert a claim.
Recognizing a limited cause of action would subject attorneys who prepare wills and trusts documents to the same standard of care governing attorneys generally. Because I believe that this is sound public policy, I dissent.