Court Opinion

ID: 9775351
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 18:54:56.98035+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:25.326559
License: Public Domain

RODRIGUEZ, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent from the majority’s disposition of points of error number one and six.
The crux of Maeberry’s first point of error is that he could not have breached a fiduciary duty as guardian of Gayle’s estate in the transfer of the house because, at the time of the transfer, Gayle was over eighteen years old and there was no longer a guardianship or trust relationship between them.
In sustaining this point of error, the majority confuses the termination of the estate with the termination of a guardian’s fiduciary duty to not harm his ward. The majority presumes that Maeberry’s obligations to Gayle vaporized the minute Gayle turned eighteen. To support this presumption, the majority cites to Tharp v. Blackwell, 570 S.W.2d 154, 160 (Tex.Civ.App.—Texarkana 1978, no writ), and Longoria v. Alamia, 149 Tex. 234, 230 S.W.2d 1022, 1023 (1950), which hold that after the ward attains majority age, the guardian loses authority to act on behalf of the ward. While I do not question this holding, it has no application to the facts before us. Gayle did not complain Maeberry took some action on his behalf after he turned 18; rather Gayle complained of the manner in which Maeberry acted toward him after he attained majority and before the estate was closed.1
*883Attainment of majority only acts to terminate the authority of the guardian to act on behalf of the ward. It does not terminate the duty of the guardian to refrain from taking action adverse to the interest of the ward, or to continue to act in a fiduciary capacity toward the ward. See Tex. PROBATE Code Ann. § 694(a) (Vernon Supp.1997) (“Unless otherwise discharged as provided by law, a guardian remains in office until the estate is closed.”). A guardian’s fiduciary duty does not terminate until he is discharged by the court.
Neither should the majority rely on § 745 of the probate code, which provides that “the estate of the ward is settled and closed when: (1) a minor ward dies or becomes an adult by becoming 18 years of age, or by removal of disabilities of minority according to the law of this state.” Tex. PROb.Code Ann. § 745(a)(1) (Vernon Supp.1997). Section 745 merely provides a mechanism for determining when a guardianship may be closed and settled. While I agree with the majority’s holding that, “[T]he estate of a ward terminates when a minor ward become an adult by becoming eighteen years of age,” that holding does not address the issue presented to the Court, that being, “Does the guardian of an estate have a continuing fiduciary duty to his ward until discharged by the Court?” In direct contravention of § 694(a) of the probate code, the majority answers this question in the negative.
The majority argues that use of the phrase “emancipated ward” in § 750(a), which delineates who may sue for an accounting of the estate, indicates the guardianship terminates at “the proper time even without a final account.” This interpretation of § 750(a) fails to consider the unambiguous language of § 694(a) that a guardian remains in office until the estate is closed.
Neither § 745 nor § 750 provide that the guardianship terminates or is closed without further action when the ward attains majority. To the contrary, the probate code requires that an accounting be had and the proceeds of the estate, if any, be distributed to the ward or to the ward’s personal representative. An accounting is not merely a ministerial act. Only when an accounting has been made may the guardian of the estate be discharged and his fiduciary responsibility to the ward ended:
When the guardian of an estate has fully administered the estate in accordance with this chapter and the order's of the court and the guardian’s final account has been approved, and the guardian has delivered all of the estate remaining in the guardian’s hands to any person entitled to receive the estate, the court shall enter an order discharging the guardian from the guardian’s trust, and declaring the estate closed.
Tex. Prob.Code Ann. § 752(d) (Vernon Supp. 1997) (emphasis added); see also Massie v. De Shields, 62 S.W.2d 322, 324 (Tex.Civ.App.—Dallas 1933, writ ref'd) (a “guardian is not entitled to absolute discharge of his trust until he has submitted his final accounting or settlement to the court ...”). Until Maeber-ry was discharged from the guardian’s trust and the probate court declared the estate closed, Maeberry was required to act in a fiduciary capacity toward Gayle. Having failed to render an accounting or obtain a discharge from the probate court, Maeberry was still acting in a fiduciary capacity toward' Gayle at the time Maeberry defrauded Gayle of his property.
I would find the evidence sufficient to support the trial court’s findings of fact regarding breach of a fiduciary duty with respect to the guardianship of Gayle’s estate and overrule the first point of error.
I would also overrule point of error number six in which Maeberry challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the finding that “the Defendant, in his capacity as guardian of the estate of the Plaintiff, received life insurance proceeds in the sum of $5000 belonging to the Plaintiff and that the Defendant failed and did not account to the Plaintiff or the Probate Court for these life insurance proceeds.”
Maeberry testified he never received the life insurance benefits and did not know what became of the money. Gayle countered by *884submitting into evidence Maeberry’s application to serve as Gayle’s guardian, in which Maeberry claimed the existence of the life insurance policy necessitated a guardianship of Gayle’s estate.
I would hold that Maeberry’s application for guardianship of Gayle’s estate is some evidence that Maeberry received the $5000 life insurance benefit. The application for guardianship stated: “The Estate of said minor consists of the following property: a $5,000 life insurance policy on the life of Willie Lee Wilson, payable to James Lee Gayle as Beneficiary.” Maeberry also stated that “[a] Guardian is required in order to recover the insurance proceeds from the aforementioned insurance policy.” From these statements, I would hold we can presume Maeberry collected on the policy.
In addition, at the time of his appointment, Maeberry swore an oath that he would “faithfully discharge the duties of Guardian of the person and estate of James Lee Gayle, a minor, according to law.” The probate code provides that:
Every guardian of an estate shall use ordinary diligence to collect all claims and debts due the ward and to recover possession of all property of the ward to which the ward has claim or title, if there is a reasonable prospect of collecting the claims or of recovering the property. If the guardian wilftilly neglects to use ordinary diligence, the guardian and the sureties on the guardian’s bond shall be liable, at the suit of any person interested in the estate, for the use of the estate, for the amount of the claims or for the value of the property that has been lost due to the guardian’s neglect.
Tex. PROB.Code ANN. § 772 (Vernon Supp. 1997).
According to Maeberry, Gayle needed a guardian to secure the proceeds of Wilson’s life insurance policy. Maeberry swore under oath to the probate court that he would carry out his duties as a guardian. One of those duties was to claim and recover the proceeds from the life insurance policy. Therefore, even were Maeberry correct in asserting there is no evidence to support a finding he collected on the policy, he would still be liable to Gayle for the amount of the policy because Maeberry would have been negligent under § 772 for not claiming the proceeds and turning them over to Gayle.
The majority is critical of this analysis, stating Gayle did not assert a cause of action based on § 772. I disagree. In his original petition, Gayle listed the property that he was claiming under Wilson’s will. Specifically listed was “any insurance policy which is payable to the estate of Willie Lee Wilson or James Lee Gayle.” Under each of the three causes of action asserted, Gayle plead for the “loss of use of all personal property” and “the fair market value of all personal property.” The quoted portions of the pleading track the language of § 722 that the guardian shall be liable for “the use of the estate” or “for the value of the property.” As we are required to construe pleadings liberally, Tex.R. Civ. P. 1, I would hold that Gayle’s failure to explicitly cite § 772 does not prevent him from asserting a cause of action under that section of the probate code.
Dissenting opinion joined by SEERDEN, C.J., and DORSEY, J.

. The majority’s reliance on Tharp is further misplaced because in that case, the ward had at*883tained the age of majority and requested that the estate be closed and the assets distributed to her.