Court Opinion

ID: 9644897
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 21:07:54.995919+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:19.530766
License: Public Domain

BURGESS, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. This is a summary judgment case and the burden is upon the movant to demonstrate there is no genuine issue as to any material fact. City of Houston v. Clear Creek Basin Auth., 589 S.W.2d 671, 676 (Tex.1979). The majority holds that “[ajppellants have admitted and conceded, in their trial court pleadings, that Appellee never accepted the trusts and never undertook to administer the trusts.” One of the fatal flaws in this holding is that the language relied upon by the majority was taken from “Plaintiffs’ List of Contested Issues of Fact and Contentions of *99Law.” This is not a pleading. The pleadings consist of the petitions and answers and any amendments or supplementations thereto. TEX.R.CIV.P. 45. This instrument is neither. Another flaw is, when viewed in context, the quoted language cannot be taken as an admission that appel-lee never accepted his appointment as trustee, but clearly refers to a failure of the appellee to take possession of the trust assets. The language relied upon by the majority, as shown in context:
Breach of duty to administer the trust. The evidence will show that Defendant never accepted the trust, that he never undertook to administer the trust in accordance with his duties under the Texas Trust Code and at common law, and that he abandoned the administration of the trust to his Co-Trustees. Defendant’s conduct constitutes a breach of his fiduciary duty to administer the trust....
Taken in context, it is clear that appellants are referring to a failure to take possession of the trust assets because a breach of duty to administer can only occur if the trustee has accepted his appointment. Similarly, a trustee could not abandon the administration of a trust he never accepted. Consequently, while the choice of words may have been poor, they do not constitute an admission as found by the majority. I would reverse the summary judgment and remand. Because the majority fails to do so, I respectfully dissent.