Court Dismissed Appeal After No Person Accepted The Position Of Representative Of The Estate

In Criswell v. Polk, Catherine Polk sued Dolores Sharp over Houston real property ownership. No. 01-22-00428-CV, 2026 Tex. App. LEXIS 2290 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] March 12, 2026, no pet.). The probate court granted partial summary judgment for Polk, vesting title in Angel’s estate. Sharp then died during the proceedings, and Lisa Criswell became independent executor. Criswell then appealed the summary judgment. Thereafter, Criswell resigned as executor, and Diana Angel was designated as successor. However, Diana Angel failed to appear at probate hearing and did not seek appointment and no other person sought appointment as successor executor.

The court of appeals discussed the appropriate person to represent an estate:

A civil suit may be maintained only by and against parties having an actual or legal existence. A decedent’s estate “is not a legal entity and may not properly sue or be sued as such.” A suit that seeks to establish the liability of an estate “should be filed against the personal representative or, in certain circumstances, the heirs or beneficiaries.” The Estates Code allows a personal representative—including an independent executor—to resign from that position. The probate court may accept the personal representative’s resignation, discharge the personal representative, and appoint a successor representative if necessary under certain circumstances. A successor representative may “make himself or herself, and may be made, a party to a suit prosecuted by or against the successor’s predecessors.”

Id. The court of appeals abated the appeal and remanded to the probate court to determine if it could appoint a successor. The probate court held a hearing after giving notice to the interested parties. No one stepped forward to accept the position. The court of appeals then unabated the appeal and dismissed it for want of prosecution.