Diana Gordon Offord v. April Carson, 01-19-00815-CV

Background

Diana Offord was appointed guardian of Winter Gordon’s estate in 2008; a 2010 tax suit final judgment awarded title to the Fulshear Lot to "Diana G. Offord, as Guardian of the Estate of Incapacitated Person, Winter Gordon" based on adverse possession, and a 2010 deed referencing that judgment was recorded.
Winter Gordon died in 2011; his will was probated in 2015 naming April Carson as sole heir, and the probate inventory listed the Fulshear Lot as an estate asset approved by the probate court.
In August 2016 Offord’s attorney recorded a "Correction Deed" naming "Diana Gordon Offord" individually (substituting her individual capacity for her prior capacity as guardian). The correction deed was executed only by Offord’s counsel.
Carson sued in 2018 seeking declaratory relief/quiet title: she alleged the Correction Deed was invalid, clouded her title as heir, and asked the court to cancel it and quiet title in her favor.
The trial court granted summary judgment: it declared the Correction Deed invalid, cancelled it of record, quieted fee simple title in Carson, and awarded Carson attorney’s fees under the Declaratory Judgment Act.
On appeal the court affirmed the invalidation of the Correction Deed and the quieting of title in Carson, but modified the judgment to delete the attorney’s fees award.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Carson)	Defendant's Argument (Offord)	Held
1. Proper procedural vehicle: declaratory/quiet-title v. trespass-to-try-title	Carson framed claim as declaratory/quiet-title to remove cloud created by Correction Deed	Offord argued Carson must bring a trespass-to-try-title action under Tex. Prop. Code ch. 22	Court: substance controls; Carson’s suit was a quiet-title/declaratory action to remove a cloud (not a trespass-to-try-title claim) and procedural choice was allowable given Offord failed to special-except or obtain ruling
2. Validity of 2016 Correction Deed under Tex. Prop. Code §§ 5.028–5.029	The Correction Deed attempted a material change (substituting an individual grantee for a guardian) and thus required execution by each original party under § 5.029; lacking that, it is invalid	Offord contended the change was a nonmaterial name correction under § 5.028 (clerical)	Court: change altered identity of grantee (guardian → individual), so it was a material correction requiring signatures of all parties; the Correction Deed was invalid
3. Ownership of the Fulshear Lot (did title vest in Carson)	Carson relied on the 2010 judgment, the probate inventory, the executor’s deed and Gordon’s will showing the lot passed to her as heir	Offord argued the lot never belonged to the estate and that she had acquired title individually	Court: evidence established title vested in Winter Gordon’s estate under the 2010 judgment and passed to Carson by probate; Offord’s self‑serving affidavit insufficient to create fact issue
4. Award of attorney’s fees under the Declaratory Judgment Act	Carson sought fees under DJA for declaratory relief	Offord argued DJA fees unavailable because the suit was essentially a quiet-title action	Court: suit was, in substance, a quiet-title action (attorney’s fees not available); trial court’s award of DJA fees was deleted on appeal

Key Cases Cited

Merriman v. XTO Energy, Inc., 407 S.W.3d 244 (Tex. 2013) (standard of review for summary judgment)
Bush v. Lone Oak Club, LLC, 601 S.W.3d 639 (Tex. 2020) (summary-judgment evidence viewed in nonmovant’s favor)
Hillis v. McCall, 602 S.W.3d 436 (Tex. 2020) (traditional summary-judgment burdens)
Rhône–Poulenc, Inc. v. Steel, 997 S.W.2d 217 (Tex. 1999) (movant must conclusively prove elements)
Lujan v. Navistar, Inc., 555 S.W.3d 79 (Tex. 2018) (sham affidavit rule and when affidavit cannot create fact issue)
City of Keller v. Wilson, 168 S.W.3d 802 (Tex. 2005) (when a matter is conclusively established)
Brumley v. McDuff, 616 S.W.3d 826 (Tex. 2021) (construing pleadings liberally and substance-over-form for property claims)
Martin v. Amerman, 133 S.W.3d 262 (Tex. 2004) (purpose of trespass-to-try-title actions)
Lance v. Robinson, 543 S.W.3d 723 (Tex. 2018) (limits on declaratory relief vs trespass-to-try-title)
Coinmach Corp. v. Aspenwood Apartment Corp., 417 S.W.3d 909 (Tex. 2013) (trespass-to-try-title exclusivity for establishing title)
Tex. Parks & Wildlife Dep’t v. Sawyer Trust, 354 S.W.3d 384 (Tex. 2011) (substance of relief controls over pleading labels)
Austin Nursing Ctr., Inc. v. Lovato, 171 S.W.3d 845 (Tex. 2005) (guardians lack capacity; others sue on ward’s behalf)
Tanya L. McCabe Trust v. Ranger Energy LLC, 531 S.W.3d 783 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2016) (corrections to recorded instruments under Property Code)
Florey v. Estate of McConnell, 212 S.W.3d 439 (Tex. App.—Austin 2006) (quiet-title/impact-of-deeds on proceeds)
Eggemeyer v. Hughes, 621 S.W.3d 883 (Tex. App.—El Paso 2021) (boundary and title-related declaratory relief)