Litigation of Fiduciary Cases: Technicalities Abound
The primary lesson of the four cases featured in our four-part series of posts (Perils in Virginia Estate Litigation) is not so much that the Virginia Supreme Court stands on technicalities—many lawyers might agree that it can and does so regularly, yet they might further observe that “technicalities” exist for a reason. Rather, one lesson is that personal representatives, be they executors, administrators or trustees, and their trial counsel would do well to consult with experienced fiduciary litigation counsel even when the subject matter of the case does not directly implicate a will or trust. The four 2010 Virginia Supreme Court opinions discussed in our four-part installment illustrate only two of the complexities in dealing with or representing fiduciaries in court—standing and proper parties. As the Virginia Supreme Court’s recent decisions continue to reflect, there are many other complexities. With the advent, adoption, and overlay of the Uniform Trust Code, these complexities will only continue to surface in the fiduciary litigation setting, increasingly placing a premium on the fiduciary litigator’s substantive knowledge of fiduciary law in Virginia.
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