Matthew A. Bourque
Our Awards
Overview
Matthew A. Bourque serves as Managing Attorney of RMO LLP’s Dallas and Houston offices. A thoughtful, diligent litigator, Matthew focuses his practice on representing heirs, beneficiaries, fiduciaries, creditors, and other interested parties in contested probate, trust, guardianship, and financial elder abuse cases. As supported by his accomplished track record, Matthew is able to calmly and expertly navigate the most tumultuous situations with relative ease while securing results for his clients that allow them to move past their dispute and on with their lives.
Matthew primarily handles probate litigation matters including will contests, fiduciary litigation to recover misfunded, misapplied or misappropriated estate and trust funds, community property claims, executor and trustee removal proceedings, compelled distribution of estate and trust assets, trust accounting lawsuits, competing applications for guardianship, and establishment of common-law marriage and adoption-by-estoppel. Matthew also has significant experience handling commercial litigation incidental to probate matters.
Matthew received his juris doctor from Boston University School of Law, with a concentration in litigation and dispute resolution. He graduated magna cum laude from The George Washington University where he majored in Political Science with a minor in Spanish.
Education
Boston University School of Law
Juris Doctor
The George Washington University
BA, Political Science, magna cum laude
Bar Admissions
- Member, State Bar of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
Awards & Recognition
- Ones to Watch – Trusts and Estates, Best Lawyers, 2025
Community & Professional Involvement
- Board Member – Probate Section, Collin County Bar Association
- Member, Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners
- Member, Trusts and Estates Section, Dallas Bar Association
- Member, Dallas Estate Planning Council
- Executive Committee Member, ProVisors
- Member, Independent Trustee Alliance
Representative Matters
- Helped clients whose stepmother procured an invalid will from their dementia-stricken father, prevailing at trial and securing findings of bad faith, which prevented stepmother from recovering her attorney’s fees from the estate.
- Obtained emergency guardianship order for client whose rogue brother planned to kidnap their mentally incapacitated father and move him to an unsafe environment.
- Removed executor who stole several hundred thousand dollars in estate funds, preserving the remainder of the estate for national charity organization clients.
- Secured injunctive relief requiring the return of $2,000,000 in unlawfully distributed estate funds held by the business partner of client’s deceased mother.
- Defended elderly client against guardianship proceedings masterminded by her greedy son-in-law who attempted to take control of her multi-million-dollar estate. Proved that son-in-law acted in bad faith and forced him to pay fees and costs.
- Protected client’s six-figure inheritance from her beloved grandmother by defending grandmother’s will against client’s spiteful aunts and uncles.
- Defended trustee against false accusations of mismanagement and theft initiated by her son’s ex-wife; secured settlement that fully exonerated client.
- Secured highly favorable settlement over the estate of client’s sister after sister’s new neighbor, a non-English speaker and supposed “best friend” produced a suspicious handwritten will written in broken English.
- Obtained summary judgment proving common law marriage when client’s common-law husband died in a trucking accident, which allowed client to pursue wrongful death claims worth millions.
- Won a judgment to invalidate a ladybird deed, impose a permanent injunction, award attorney’s fees, and establish a widower’s right to own and possess his homestead after his own son had removed him from his home based on the illegally procured deed.
- Negotiated family settlement agreement while navigating complex family dynamics to avoid a contentious and costly trust modification proceeding.
- Engineered a take-nothing settlement defeating claim of co-tenant for improvements and repairs of inherited property.
Appellate Opinions
- Williams v. Tanner, No. 05-23-00080-CV, 2023 WL 8519064 (Tex. App.—Dallas Dec. 8, 2023, no pet.)
- Golfis v. Houillion, No. 05-15-00036-CV, 2016 WL 6236842 (Tex. App.—Dallas Oct. 25, 2016, no pet).
- Transitional Entity, LP v. Elder Care, LP, No. 05-14-01615-CV, 2016 WL 3197160 (Tex. App.—Dallas May 27, 2016, no pet.).
- Sherrill v. Williams, No. 05-14-00847-CV, 2015 WL 1910015 (Tex. App.—Dallas Apr. 28, 2015, pet. denied).
- Golfis v. Houillion, No. 05-13-01330-CV, 2014 WL 4090141 (Tex. App.—Dallas Aug. 19, 2014, no pet.).
Speaking Engagements
- Find the Edge: Shifting Burdens in the Probate World, Hopkins County Bar Association, 2022
- Probate Pitfalls for Personal Injury Lawyers, State Bar of Texas CLE – 31st Advanced Personal Injury Law Course, 2015
Duties to Disclose in Estate and Trust Administrations; author, Dallas Bar Association DBA Headnotes, December 2024
Protect Your Aging Clients with Capacity-Planning Tools; presenter, Hopkins County Bar Association, Sulphur Springs, Texas, September 12, 2024
Responsibilities of Fiduciaries in Administering Trusts and Estates; presenter, Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants 2024 TXCPA Summit, San Antonio, Texas, August 19–20, 2024
Protect Your Aging Loved Ones with Capacity-Planning Tools; presenter, WealthWise Financial Services WealthWise Webinar, webcast June 25, 2024
Probate Pitfalls for PI Lawyers: How to Protect Your Case, Your Clients, and Yourself; co-author, Advanced Personal Injury Course 2020, webcast July 31, 2020
A Mother Struggles To Care For Her Adult Son with Schizophrenia; featured interviewee, KERA News, Dallas, Texas, December 19, 2019
Telemedicine in Texas: Opportunities and Practice Pointers from a Legal Perspective; panelist, Texas Medical Association TexMed Conference, Dallas, Texas, May 17–18, 2019
Probate Pitfalls for PI Lawyers; co-author, Dallas Bar Association DBA Headnotes, May 25, 2016
Probate Considerations that Every Personal Injury Lawyer Should Know, co-author, 31st Annual Advanced Personal Injury Course, Dallas, Texas, July 8–10, 2015
Latest Articles from Matthew
Insights and advice on trust and probate estate litigation from our blog.
Understanding the Statute of Limitations in Probate Litigation
Executive summary Introduction Understanding the statute of limitations in probate litigation is critical for ensuring that you are able to
The Role of a Trustee in High-Value Estates: Responsibilities and Risks
Executive summary Introduction Trusts are important estate planning tools for high-net-worth individuals, and trustees play a central role in ensuring
Common Challenges in High-Value Probate Litigation: How to Protect Your Interests
Executive summary Introduction Achieving a high net worth and reaching a high economic status is an impressive lifetime milestone. However,
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