The Orphans’ Court abused its discretion and erred as a matter of law when it disregarded the testimony of two expert witnesses that the person previously adjudicated to be incapacitated was no longer incapacitated, and relied solely on evidence of … Continue reading
Daniel Evans
The denial of various objections to the executor’s account should be affirmed on appeal: The failure of the objectant to seek discovery before trial, and the resulting failure to provide evidence to support the objections to the account, cannot be … Continue reading
After decedent’s daughter was removed as executor for failing to administer the estate, including the failure to pay the mortgage and other costs of maintaining the decedent’s residence which the daughter continued to occupy, the court gave the daughter the … Continue reading
The Orphans’ Court has mandatory jurisdiction over a challenge to the validity of a beneficiary designation to a deferred compensation plan, and so a preliminary objection to the petition was dismissed. The petition alleged that the decedent changed the beneficiary … Continue reading
One of the few good things about the Act of July 2, 2014, P.L. 855, No. 95, which made a number of significant changes to 20 Pa.C.S. Ch. 56 (“Powers of Attorney”), is that the act provided a list of...
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Chester County has published new fee schedules for the Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans’ Court, effective January 12, 2026. “Fees to be Charged by the Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans’ Court,” Administrative Order No. … Continue reading
The legislation proposed by the Pennsylvania Bar Association for electronic wills has now been introduced in the Pennsylvania legislature as SB 1138. Future legislative actions on this bill will be reported on the “Pennsylvania Legislation Pending” directory, which lists and … Continue reading
Although the trust instrument restricted distributions of principal, the trustee nevertheless had the power under a provision of the Uniform Principal and Income Act (“UPIA”), 20 Pa.C.S. § 8104, to allocate amounts of principal to income, and distribute that income … Continue reading
The Orphans’ Court properly found that the alleged incapacitated person (“AIP”) was incapacitated and in need of guardianship services, notwithstanding the testimony of the AIP to the contrary, based on medical testimony that the AIP had impaired short-term memory, so … Continue reading
Many legal commentators and publications have noted that there are problems with relying on “generative artificial intelligence” or “large language models” such as “ChatGPT,” which are often referred to (somewhat derisively) as “chatbots.” The problems are usually described as “hallucinations” … Continue reading