In the Matter of the Estate of Katha Mae Williams

Tulsa, Oklahoma civil litigation lawyers represented the parties in a dispute over the disposition the proceeds from a wrongful death action brought by the spouse and parents of Elliott Williams.



The Williamses' son, Elliott, died on October 27, 2011, after being arrested by Owasso police for causing a disturbance. Once in jail, he became paralyzed from injuring his neck and died without receiving any mental health or medical treatment.4 He left behind a surviving wife, but no children as heirs. Elliott's probate (PB-2011-724) was initially filed November 7, 2011, in the Tulsa County District Court. As a result of his death, a wrongful death action was also filed the same day in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma (No. 11-CV-720-JEDC-PJC) against the Sheriff of Tulsa County. Pursuant to Oklahoma's wrongful death statute, the wrongful death action is filed by the decedent's personal representative.5 Damages, when the decedent has a surviving spouse, no children, and surviving parents are distributed to the spouse and parents as provided by 84 O.S. 2021 §213.



The parents died before the case was resolved and their interest in the proceeds of the litigation, were assigned to trusts that they had created.



The petitioner, the personal representative of Elliott's mother's estate, then sought to have Elliott's mother's share judicially determined to belong in the trust. The trial court determined they belonged in the trust. The personal representative of the father's estate appealed, and the Court of Civil Appeals affirmed. We hold that the proceeds from a wrongful death lawsuit can be transferred into a trust before they are obtained by the trust settlor, and if they are, they belong in the trust.

¶34 This cause concerns the transfer of expected proceeds of a wrongful death action into a trust for estate planning. Wrongful death actions, insofar as the statutory beneficiaries are concerned, are vested upon the wrongful death.35 The proceeds of such lawsuits are akin to trust funds held for the statutory beneficiaries.36 Nothing in the will and trust statutes prohibits the transfer of expected proceeds into a trust. Prohibiting such a transfer would be counterintuitive to the nature of an estate trust, and our prior treatment of wrongful death proceeds. Consequently, we hold that proceeds from a wrongful death cause can be transferred into a trust before they are obtained by the trust settlor, and if they are, they belong in the trust. The trial court's determination that Katha's interest in her son's wrongful death suit belongs in the Williams Family Trust is affirmed.