The charitable bequest under the residuary clause being impossible to carry out, the Attorney General and all interested parties agreed that the clause was ineffective, so the residue of the estate would pass by intestacy. A disclaimer by one of … Continue reading
Category Archives: Opinions
Claimant failed to prove common law marriage by clear and convincing evidence of constant cohabitation and general reputation when the decedent also maintained a relationship and household with another woman and there was an unclear reputation of marriage between the … Continue reading
Direction in will that the decedent’s youngest daughter (to whom letters of administration were granted) should provide “shelter” at the decedent’s home for any other child “with no place to live” did not prevent the ejectment of a child who … Continue reading
The Orphans’ Court properly refused to approve the distribution of the assets of a dissolving nonprofit corporation to organizations that did not provide firefighting services, but it was error to apply the cy pres doctrine to order distributions to two other firefighting … Continue reading
Decedent died owning several LLCs owning real estate in various states of disrepair, and with possible debts in excess of assets, and so the estate was possibly insolvent. The interests of the estate were likely to be jeopardized by the … Continue reading
Following the probate of the decedent’s will, the aunt of the decedent filed an appeal, but then died. A notice of death was filed, and heirs of the deceased aunt filed a notice of substitution. After conducting discovery, the beneficiaries … Continue reading
The daughter of the decedent was not entitled to an intestate share of the residue of the estate, even though the will contained no residuary clause and the residue would pass by intestate succession, because the will included a gift … Continue reading
Section 529 plans (also known as “qualified tuition plans”) created under the laws of states other than Pennsylvania are also exempt from inheritance tax, because the limitation on the exemption from tax in 24 P.S. § 6901.316 (Section 316 of … Continue reading
The testimony of decedent’s lawyer showed that the sale of the real estate previously used by the decedent as his home and accounting office to his son who had worked with the decedent was at the direction of the decedent, … Continue reading
Testimony and evidence showed that the decedent was strong willed and made his own financial decisions, and that the gifts to the decedent’s agent were the decisions of the decedent and not the agent. Various objections to expenses of the … Continue reading