Category Archives: Articles
[This article was originally published in Probate & Property, Vol. 19, No. 4, p. 22 (July/August 2005).] The year 2004 marked the end of the federal estate tax credit for state death taxes, and the end of any state death … Continue reading
Can the beneficiaries of a trust agree to a modification of the trust in accordance with 20 Pa.C.S. § 7740.1 that allows them to remove and replace a corporate trustee without any showing that the trustee can be removed in … Continue reading
(This article originally appeared in the PBA Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Newsletter, No. 75, p. 19 (Summer 2014).) There is both controversy and uncertainty about the use of “trust protectors” in the creation and administration of trusts. The...
As noted earlier, five different Supreme Court procedural rules committees (Criminal, Juvenile, Civil, Domestic Relations, and Orphans’ Court) have joined together to submit a proposal to revise all state-wide rules to require that local rules be published on-line by each … Continue reading
It is quite common for a broker or other payor to issue Forms 1099-INT or 1099-DIV in the name of the decedent, and with the decedent’s security number, reporting income received after death. This happens because brokers continue to record...
The property that is owned by a decedent at death is administered by the executor or administrator of the decedent’s estate and is always subject to the claims of the decedent’s creditors. The Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries Code (“PEF Code”),...
The IRS has issued five identical private letter rulings, PLRs 201442042, 201442043, 201442044, 201442045, and 201442046, apparently to five different parties involved in the same transaction, agreeing that a court-approved reformation of a trust in accordance with § 415 of...
This article will explain some of the drafting decision reflected in the author’s sample form of durable general power of attorney (“the form”). The form and this commentary were originally published on 12/1/2014 to reflect changes to 20 Pa.C.S. Ch....
Below are the comments I have submitted to the Pa. Disciplinary Board on the proposed change to Rule of Disciplinary Enforcement 217 that would require all “formerly admitted attorneys” to resign from all fiduciary positions, regardless of whether the lawyer … Continue reading