Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas
Trust Statement
I am the Trustee/Exectutor of my mother's trust. She has a clause in the trust that states: if anyone contests the trust they forfeit their inheritance and get one dollar. My question is; what constitutes contention, and is this clause enforceable?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Trust Statement
The clause is enforceable. What a "contest" means is more nebulous. Clearly a lawsuit against the trustee would be a contest that would trigger the no contest clause. Anything less is probably not going to trigger the clause.
Depending upon the exact language in the trust agreement, and the circumstances, certain lawsuits against the trustee may not trigger the clause, for example if the contestant is successful in proving that the trustee has been embezzling money out of the trust. But the basic answer is that a "contest" is a lawsuit.