In the Estate of Mildred Vrana, Deceased v.--Appeal from County Court of Jim Wells County

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State: Texas

Court: Texas Northern District Court

Docket No: 04-09-00377-CV

Case Date: 11/17/2010

Preview:OPINION
No. 04-09-00377-CV IN THE ESTATE OF MILDRED VRANA, DECEASED From the County Court, Jim Wells County, Texas Trial Court No. 6949-A Honorable Joe Loving, Jr., Judge Presiding 1 Opinion by: Sitting: Sandee Bryan Marion, Justice Catherine Stone, Chief Justice Sandee Bryan Marion, Justice Steven C. Hilbig, Justice

Delivered and Filed: November 17, 2010 AFFIRMED This is an appeal from a judgment in a probate case awarding attorneys' fees and costs to the appellees after they secured the removal of the appellant as executor of Mildred Vrana's estate. We affirm the trial court's judgment. BACKGROUND Mildred Vrana owned 573.39 acres of land known as the Rozypal Ranch. When Vrana died on June 28, 2003, the Rozypal Ranch was worth more than one million dollars and constituted the main asset of Vrana's estate. Vrana's son, John Patrick Rozypal ("John"), and Vrana's two daughters, Mary Jane Rozypal ("Mary Jane") and Judy Odom ("Odom"), each

1

The Honorable Joe Loving, a statutory probate court judge sitting by assignment, signed the judgment in question.

04-09-00377-CV

received a one-fifth share of Vrana's estate pursuant to the terms of Vrana's will. Vrana's daughter Linda Gilbreath also received a one-fifth share of Vrana's estate under the will, but Linda predeceased her mother. Due to Linda's death, her two children, Malcolm Gilbreath ("Malcolm") and Ginny Fienga ("Fienga"), each received a one-tenth share of Vrana's estate. John was appointed independent executor of Vrana's estate on October 24, 2005. 2 The Rozypal Ranch serves as the base of operations for John's oilfield waste and recycling business, Osage Environmental, Inc. Although Osage has used the Rozypal Ranch as its base of operations since Vrana's death, it has failed to pay either Vrana's estate or Vrana's beneficiaries for its use of the property. To date, Osage has purportedly strip mined more than 40,000 cubic yards of caliche from the Rozypal Ranch and dumped approximately 80,000 cubic yards of oilfield waste onto the ranch. Odom became concerned that John was not adhering to his obligations as executor of Vrana's estate and hired an attorney in November 2005. After her attorney investigated John's administration of the estate, Odom challenged the inventory, appraisement, and list of claims John filed in connection with his duties. According to Odom, she believed John had

underrepresented the value of Vrana's estate by failing to include any consideration for the rents he should have paid to the estate for his business's use of the Rozypal Ranch. Although the trial court held a hearing on Odom's objections, it failed to issue a ruling on them. Malcolm, Fienga, and Mary Jane hired counsel of their own in August 2006. On August 18, 2006, attorneys from Bracewell & Giuliani sent John a letter demanding that he comply with

As the named executor, Rozypal "had statutory and fiduciary duties to protect the interests of the devisees." See In re Estate of Head, 165 S.W.3d 897, 902 (Tex. App.--Texarkana 2005, no pet.). Rozypal was "charged with the duty to use reasonable care in that he [had to] care for the property of the estate as a prudent man would take care of his own property." See Lee v. Lee, 47 S.W.3d 767, 796 (Tex. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 2001, pet. denied); see also TEX. PROB. CODE ANN.

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