Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of March 14, 2016.

NOTE: Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court.

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U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n v. TFHSP LLC Series 6481, No. 02-15-00209-CV, (Mar. 17, 2016) (Walker, J., joined by Gabriel, J.; Sudderth, J., concurs with opinion).

Held:  In this restricted appeal from a no-answer default judgment, U.S. Bank has shown error apparent on the face of the record because Appellee did not strictly comply with the requirements set forth in subchapter A of chapter 505 of the Texas Estates Code or the long-arm statutes for service of process on U.S. Bank. Because service on U.S. Bank was defective, the trial court did not acquire personal jurisdiction over U.S. Bank, and the default judgment is therefore void.

Concurrence:  The relevant authorities do not appear to require a plaintiff to go so far as to include an allegation as to the manner in which the defendant became a fiduciary under the estates code or to include an additional allegation that the suit relates to the fiduciary’s action in its fiduciary capacity if the petition also includes the statement “Defendant is sued in its fiduciary capacity” and contains a reference to the pertinent provision of the estates code.