Category Archives: Estate Planning

July 28, 2023 Weekly Round Up

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We’ve reached the end of July!  Here are some of the ag law stories in the news. *Court rules that challenge to EPA dicamba registration brought by farm groups belongs in district court.  The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia recently ruled that a lawsuit filed by the American Soybean Association against the EPA should have been filed in the district court (trial level court) rather than at the court of appeals level.  Because of this, the court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction…. Read More →

What Happens if the Original Will Is Missing?

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What happens when the original of a will goes missing and there is no evidence of what happened?  That was the issue recently addressed in In the estate of Myrtle Dell Brown. Background Myrtle Brown died in June 2018 at 93 years old.  She was not married and had no children.  The value of her estate was approximately $750,000. Ms. Eriks filed an application for probate of a copy of a will seeking to introduce a will dated October 1, 2009 that named the Humane Society as the sole… Read More →

June 16, 2023 Weekly Round Up

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We’re back with some helpful resources and information about agricultural law for your Friday! *Florida foreign ag land ownership law facing legal challenge.  Micah Brown from the National Ag Law Center recently wrote a great summary of lawsuit challenging Florida’s foreign ag land ownership law as unconstitutional.  [Read article here.]  To hear Micah and I discuss foreign ag land ownership laws generally, click here. *EPA appears to continue to fight for WOTUS Rule.  You may recall from this blog post my prediction that the Biden administration would likely… Read More →

June 9, 2023 Weekly Round Up

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Happy June!  We’ve got plenty of ag law news to kick off the summer. *US Supreme Court rules for landowner in Sackett v. EPA, abandons “significant nexus test” for WOTUS.  I’ll have a lengthy blog post about this decision on Monday, but meanwhile, you can read a Q&A interview I did with Progressive Cattle about the decision and what it means for agriculture here. You can also listen to me and two of the best water law professors in the country break it down on my Ag Law in… Read More →

May 5, 2023 Weekly Round Up

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Happy Cinco de Mayo!  We’re back with another ag law round up of news and articles from around the country. We’ve also got a photo of our newest addition born just yesterday from our place here in Texas. *Texas Supreme Court sides with royalty owner in post-production cost case.  The Texas Supreme Court recently sided with royalty owners in Devon v. Sheppard, a case challenging post production costs in the Eagle Ford Shale.  [Read Opinion here and Dissenting Opinion here.]  To read a good summary of the decision, click… Read More →

April 21, 2023 Weekly Round Up

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Here are a few of the ag law stories in the news the past couple of weeks. *North Dakota court issues injunction against Biden WOTUS rule in 24 states.  The judge hearing a WOTUS lawsuit filed by 24 states in North Dakota issued an injunction against the rule in each of those states.  [Read article here.]  In addition to the 24 states impacted by this injunction, remember that a Texas judge previously issued an injunction prohibiting the rule from going into effect in Texas and Idaho.  [Read article… Read More →

March 24, 2023 Weekly Round Up

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Hello from Ft. Worth!  We’re excited to be at the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Convention this weekend.  If you’re here in Cowtown, be sure to say hi! Here are a number of ag law stories in the news over the past couple of weeks. *Numerous challenges filed against Biden WOTUS definition.  Brigit Rollins at the National Agricultural Law Center recently published a great article outlining the legal challenges currently filed against the Biden WOTUS definition.  [Read article here.]  Since this article, a federal judge here in Texas… Read More →

March 10, 2023 Weekly Round Up

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Once again, it has been a busy couple of weeks on the agricultural law front.  Here are some of the key ag law stories in the news. *US Supreme Court will not hear New Mexico stream access case.  The United States Supreme Court has denied a Petition for Certiorari in  Chama Troutstalkers, LLC v. Adobe Whitewater Club of New Mexico.  You may recall from this prior blog post that the New Mexico Supreme Court held laws allowing landowners to close portions of streams on private property were unconstitutional.  This… Read More →

February 24, 2023 Weekly Round Up

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We’ve reached the last Friday in February.  Here are some of the biggest stories in the news this week. *San Antonio Court of Appeals dismisses PETA lawsuit for lack of standing.  A recent San Antonio Court of Appeals decision in PETA v. Bandera Wranglers dismissed PETA’s challenge to a hog catching contest in Bandera, Texas.  Specifically, the court found that Texas did not recognize organizational standing and that the individual member who was also named as a plaintiff also failed to show standing as she offered only hypothetical concerns… Read More →

December 16, 2022 Weekly Round Up

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We are here with our final round up of 2022.  It has been a busy year.  If you missed our National Year in Review blog post, click here. If you prefer audio, you can check out my podcast episode with Paul Goeringer here.  Be sure to check back on Monday for our Texas Year in Review post as well. Here are a few of the ag law stories in the news. Oral argument held in dicamba case before D.C. Court of Appeals.  Oral argument was held this week in… Read More →