Lucik v. Taylor

In Lucik v. Taylor, 596 S.W.2d 514, 516, 23 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 187 (Tex. 1980), the beneficiaries under two wills applied to probate those wills. The probate court appointed a temporary administrator of the estate. Subsequently, on application by one of the beneficiaries, the probate court issued an injunction that ordered the second beneficiary to turn over all assets belonging to the estate of the deceased irrespective of whether they constituted a part of the deceased's separate estate or part of the community estate of the deceased and his widow. The injunction also included restraints on the second beneficiary's use of items received from the deceased during his lifetime. The supreme court concluded that the protection from dissipation of transfer of the potential assets of the deceased's estate bore directly on the ultimate collection and distribution of such properties pursuant to his effective will. Therefore, the injunctive relief related to a matter "incident to an estate" and was within the probate court's jurisdiction pursuant to the probate code. Id. at 516. The court also stated that "the settlement, partition and distribution of the estate of Lucik will pertain only to the assets comprising his estate." Id. However, this statement clearly relates to the supreme court's recognition that injunctive relief was necessary to protect and preserve the assets in question "until their status could be determined." Id.