Court Rejects Effort to Avoid Settlement Agreement

Disputes involving wills and estates are typically settled through mediation. Mediation has a number of benefits over taking these issues to court including reduced expenses, more certain results, and less time spent waiting for assets to be distributed to beneficiaries. In Texas, another benefit of mediation is the reluctance of the courts to overturn settlement agreements. In Lawson v. Collins, the Austin Court of Appeals rejected an attempt to challenge a mediated settlement agreement and binding arbitration following the initial mediation. Despite the challenger’s argument that she acted under duress and was coerced, the court held that the agreement and the arbitration were both valid.

See Michael Young, Court Rejects Effort to Avoid Settlement Agreement, Texas Probate Litigation, October 19, 2017.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.) for bringing this article to my attention.