In Bird v. Carl C. Anderson, a trust beneficiary sued a
defendant for usurping a trustee's role and breaching fiduciary
duties as a de facto trustee. No. 03-21-00140-CV, 2021 Tex. App.
LEXIS 5036 (Tex. App.—Austin June 24, 2021, no pet. history).
The plaintiff complained that the defendant "reinvested the
proceeds into 'high-risk and non-diversified investments that
exposed the trusts and [their] beneficiaries to inappropriate
levels of risk,' causing the trusts to substantially diminish
in value; distributed assets to himself, Jennifer, and perhaps
others to the Foundation's detriment; and had Jennifer sign all
of the transactional documents in her role as trustee even though
she was and is incapacitated." Id. The defendant
filed a motion to dismiss under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 91,
arguing that there was no de facto trustee status in Texas. The
trial court denied the motion, found that "Texas law
recognizes the legal capacity of 'de facto trustee' in
