George Strait Jr., son of singer George Strait, faced a real lawsuit from May 2025 to January 2026. A San Antonio construction firm, Build Modern, sued him and his wife, Tamara Strait, over a home remodel gone wrong. A contract clause sent the case into private arbitration before trial could start. Both sides reached a confidential settlement, and a judge closed the case on January 8, 2026.
Key Takeaways
- Build Modern, a Texas builder, sued George Strait Jr. and Tamara Strait on May 5, 2025.
- The dispute centered on a Hill Country home remodel worth $221,225.
- Build Modern sought at least $124,662 in unpaid fees and contract costs.
- A contract clause forced the case into arbitration before trial could start.
- Both sides settled on private terms; a judge closed the case on January 8, 2026.
- George Strait Sr., the singer, was never a party to this case.
Two Different “George Strait Lawsuit” Stories — Which One Do You Mean?
Search results for “George Strait lawsuit” mix two unrelated cases. This confuses readers and search engines alike, so here’s the split:
- George Strait Jr. lawsuit (2025–2026) — a private construction dispute between the singer’s son and a San Antonio builder. This is the case covered on this page.
- Texas Tribune vs. the 2019 Abbott Inaugural Committee (2020) — a public-records case in which George Strait Sr. appears only as a paid performer, not as a party to the suit.
If a search led you to a story about $1.7 million in inaugural costs, that’s case two. Everything below covers case one: the Build Modern dispute.
Who Is George Strait Jr.?
George Strait Jr., known as Bubba Strait, is the son of country singer George Strait. He works in music and rodeo circles and keeps a lower public profile than his father. Court records name him and his wife, Tamara Strait, as the defendants in the Build Modern case.
The Parties Involved
| Role | Name | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Plaintiff | Build Modern | San Antonio construction firm |
| Plaintiff’s owner | David Robertson | Filed the suit on the firm’s behalf |
| Defendant | George Strait Jr. (“Bubba”) | Son of singer George Strait |
| Defendant | Tamara Strait | Wife of George Strait Jr. |
| Co-defendant | Heritage Oaks Trust | Trust tied to the property; trustee Kalyn Carroll |
| Venue | Kendall County District Court, Texas | Where the case was filed and closed |
Case Timeline
- May 5, 2025 — Build Modern filed suit against George Strait Jr., Tamara Strait, and Heritage Oaks Trust in Kendall County District Court.
- June 3, 2025 — A judge sent the case to private arbitration under a clause in the original remodel contract.
- June 2025 – December 2025 — Both sides worked through roughly seven months of private mediation.
- Early January 2026 — Build Modern withdrew the lawsuit after both sides resolved the dispute.
- January 8, 2026 — A judge signed the dismissal order. The case was closed on January 8, 2026.
What the Lawsuit Claimed
Build Modern’s court record described a $221,225 remodel of the Straits’ Texas Hill Country home, with a target finish date of November 1, 2024. The builder said several choices delayed the project: cabinets on backorder until December, a flooring switch made after partial install, and subcontractors Tamara Strait hired directly for tasks the original contract assigned to Build Modern. The firm argued the couple then pointed to those same delays as a reason to end the contract in December 2024.
Court records, plus a public statement from MySA’s own account, describe the claims as more than a simple billing dispute. Build Modern’s suit accused the Straits of fraud and conspiracy tied to how the contract ended, on top of the unpaid-invoice claims covered in most news reports.
Money at Stake
Before arbitration began, Build Modern’s court record sought:
- $57,000 for unpaid construction services
- $67,662 left on the contract balance
- $124,662 combined, in direct costs alone
- Legal costs and exemplary damages, an amount only a jury can set
Texas law defines exemplary damages as money meant to punish conduct beyond a normal loss, not to cover a specific bill. The case settled before a jury ruled on that request, so no public number exists for the final payout.
Why the Case Never Reached a Jury: The Arbitration Clause
The original remodel contract had one clause that shaped the entire case: a requirement to try mediation or arbitration before either side could sue. A judge enforced that clause on June 3, 2025, and ordered the dispute out of open court.
That single term moved a $124,662 claim out of public view for seven months. Neither the mediation record nor the settlement terms became public. This clause type is common in Texas construction contracts, and this case shows how much power it holds: it can turn a lawsuit into a private process with no public trial record beyond the original court entry.
How the Case Ended
Build Modern withdrew its suit in early January 2026. The withdrawal document stated that the firm and “all defendants have resolved all claims between them,” and that Build Modern no longer wished to pursue the case against Tamara Strait, George Strait Jr., or Heritage Oaks Trust. A judge signed the dismissal two days later, on January 8, 2026. Representatives for both sides declined to discuss terms when reporters asked. What either side paid, if anything, stays undisclosed.
What This Case Teaches Homeowners and Contractors in Texas
This dispute holds real value beyond the celebrity angle. It serves as a clear example of how a single contract clause can control the entire legal outcome.
- Check your contract for a mandatory arbitration or mediation clause before you sign. It removes your right to a public jury trial for most disputes.
- Put every delay in an email, not a phone call, the moment it happens. Both sides in this case pointed to project delays as the root cause; a paper trail settles that argument faster than memory does.
- Understand that exemplary damages claims rarely reach a dollar figure in a settled case. A jury sets that number only at trial, and most contract disputes settle first.
- Check who holds title to the property before a dispute starts. A trust can be named as a co-defendant if it holds title, as Heritage Oaks Trust did here; property structure matters in a construction dispute.
Confirmed Facts vs. Unknown Details
Confirmed, from court records and named reporting:
- Filed May 5, 2025, in Kendall County District Court, Texas
- Plaintiff: Build Modern, owner David Robertson
- Defendants: George Strait Jr., Tamara Strait, Heritage Oaks Trust
- Arbitration ordered June 3, 2025
- Case withdrawn and dismissed January 8, 2026
- Claimed costs: $124,662, plus undetermined legal costs and exemplary damages
Not publicly disclosed — not stated as fact on this page:
- Final settlement amount
- Any admission of wrongdoing by either side
- Whether Build Modern completed any part of the disputed work after the contract ended.
FAQs
Is there a George Strait Jr lawsuit active in 2026?
No. The Build Modern case closed on January 8, 2026, after both sides reached a private settlement.
What was the George Strait Jr lawsuit about?
A San Antonio builder, Build Modern, sued him and his wife, Tamara Strait, over unpaid fees and delays tied to a home remodel.
Did George Strait, the singer, get sued?
No. His son, George Strait Jr., and daughter-in-law, Tamara Strait, were the defendants. George Strait Sr. never appears as a party in the court record.
How much money did Build Modern claim?
The firm’s court record sought at least $124,662 in unpaid fees and contract costs, plus legal costs and exemplary damages set by a jury. That jury number never came, because the case settled first.
Why did the case skip a jury trial?
The remodel contract required mediation or arbitration before a lawsuit could proceed. A judge enforced that clause in June 2025, and the resulting private process produced a settlement before trial.
What happened to Heritage Oaks Trust?
Court records name the trust, through trustee Kalyn Carroll, as a co-defendant tied to the property at the center of the dispute. Its exact role in the settlement stays undisclosed.
Are the settlement terms public?
No. Both sides declined to share terms when asked. The court record shows only that all claims are “resolved.”
Sources
This page draws on Kendall County court records as reviewed and reported by MySA (the first outlet to cover the case), syndicated coverage from Yahoo and Parade that credits MySA, and a public statement from MySA’s own account regarding the fraud and conspiracy allegations. Every date and dollar figure above traces to those court records or that reporting. No detail here is invented or inferred, and every unknown is labeled as such above rather than guessed.
- MySA (original court-record reporting, cited by both syndicated versions)
- Yahoo Entertainment (syndicated MySA report)
- Parade (rewrite crediting MySA)
- Express-News / MySA sister coverage
- MySA official account (fraud and conspiracy allegation confirmation)
Musarat Bano is a content writer for JudicialOcean.com who covers lawsuits, legal news, and general legal topics. Her work focuses on research-based, informational content developed from publicly available sources and is intended to support public awareness. She does not provide legal advice or professional legal services.
