An individual trustee who is not a lawyer may not represent the trust in court. Delaware Valley Landscape Stone, Inc. v. RRQ, LLC, ___ A.3d ___, 2022 PA Super 173 (10/13/2022). … Continue reading
Daniel Evans
The Internal Revenue Service has released Rev. Proc. 2022-38 with inflation adjustments for 2023 and, consistent with earlier predictions, the changes in the most significant federal estate and trust planning numbers will be as follows: The federal estate tax base applicable exclusion amount … Continue reading
The Register of Wills of Lehigh County has adopted a new fee schedule, to be effective January 1, 2023. “Clerk of Judicial Records—Register of Wills Division Fee Schedule; Case No. 2022-J-0133” (9/19/2022), 52 Pa.B. 6452 (10/15/2022). … Continue reading
A mortgage on property owned by husband and wife as tenants by entireties was valid, even though signed by only one spouse, when the signing spouse normally handled the finances for the family and the non-signing spouse benefitted from the … Continue reading
A joint trust created by a husband and wife which remained revocable by the surviving spouse (who was also the sole trustee) following the death of one spouse did not qualify as a “sole use trust” but was not a … Continue reading
The Orphans’ Court of Lehigh County has adopted a new fee schedule, to be effective November 1, 2022. “Clerk of Orphans’ Court Division, Fee Schedule; File No. AO-2022-0001” (9/19/2022), 52 Pa.B. 6155 (10/1/2022). … Continue reading
Child born during a same-sex marriage is presumed to be the child of both parents, even though Pennsylvania did not recognize the validity of same-sex marriages when the child was conceived and born. Bossler v. Ebling, 12 Fid.Rep. 362 (C.P. … Continue reading
Claim for compensation for care of parents by one of their sons was denied for lack of “clear, direct, precise and convincing” evidence of an agreement for compensation, but claim for family exemption was allowed even though the decedent had … Continue reading
The decedent had purchased an annuity, and had named “Mildred Williams – Friend,” as the beneficiary, but failed to provide a Social Security number or other identifying information for the beneficiary. The decedent also failed to disclose the annuity to … Continue reading
The Orphans’ Court erred, and abused its discretion, when it entered an injunction against a trustee prohibiting the payment of legal fees and costs without first hearing evidence to determine if a breach of trust had occurred or may occur … Continue reading