The administrator was properly removed for failing to make any effort to settle or distribute the estate for twenty-five years, for failing to keep records allowing for an account of his administration, and for co-mingling of assets. Neither the lack … Continue reading
Daniel Evans
In litigation over the compensation and expenses of trustees of a charitable trust, the Orphans’ Court denied enforcement of interrogatories by the trustees addressed to the Attorney General which requested information about admissions and the purposes of expenses because the … Continue reading
The appellant told his cousin that he planned to order a gun and ammunition to kill his stepbrother, and those statements were relayed to a physician who considered them to be credible threats and who recommended an extended commitment for … Continue reading
When objections are made to expenses claimed by an executor, the burden is on the executor to provide receipts or other evidence of the purpose and payment of the expenses, and the Orphans’ Court properly surcharged the executor for undocumented … Continue reading
Provisions of trust documents requiring that successor trustees that may be appointed in the future must be partners of a named law firm does not require that the trustee who is appointed and accepts the appointment must remain a partner … Continue reading
The lack of any testimony from a handwriting expert, together with the “imprecise” testimony of children who were disinherited, did not amount to clear and convincing evidence of forgery, and was credibly refuted by the scrivener who testified to the … Continue reading
Pa.R.O.C.P. 4.1(c) (and similar rules in most other courts) states that the text of all petitions and other “legal paper” filed with the Orphans’ Court must be “double spaced.” Based on a recent motion filed in a federal court and … Continue reading
The executor was able to provide credible explanations for checks that were written and expenses that were incurred, and credible testimony that the beneficiaries were given an opportunity to claim items of personal property before they were removed from the … Continue reading
The Orphans’ Court approved the modification of a testamentary trust for the benefit of the settlor’s son in order to allow distributions of principal for the medical expenses and support of the settlor’s son, the court finding that the settlor … Continue reading
The Orphans’ Court approved the termination of life sustaining treatment for the alleged incapacitated person (AIP) at the request of the daughter of the AIP and over the objections of the son of the AIP based on testimony of several … Continue reading