The Orphans’ Court Procedural Rules Committee is considering changes to Forms RW-02 (Petition for Grant of Letters) and RW-07 (Notice of Estate Administration). The petition for grant of letters would be revised to clarify that whether the decedent was the … Continue reading
Daniel Evans
The Internal Revenue Service has released Rev. Proc. 2023-34, 2023-48 IRB ___ (11/24/2023), with inflation adjustments for 2023 and, consistent with earlier predictions (with two exceptions), the changes in the most significant federal estate and trust planning numbers will be as follows: The … Continue reading
The Orphans’ Court has mandatory jurisdiction to enforce its orders and judgments, and a garnishment action filed in the Civil Division to collect a judgment of the Orphans’ Court must be transferred to the Orphans’ Court. Lesko v. Brenning, 304 … Continue reading
In a series of orders issued November 3, 2023, the Supreme Court has (a) adopted Rules of Judicial Administration that provide principles of construction for all procedural and evidentiary rules and (b) amended Pa.R.O.C.P. 1.2 (and other civil and criminal … Continue reading
The Pennsylvania legislature has passed, and Governor Shapiro has signed into law, a renewed section 2802-E of the Administrative Code of 1929, Act of April 9, 1929, P.L. 177, No. 175, to reimpose the “JCP” temporary surcharges of $10.00 and … Continue reading
A surviving spouse who received erroneous legal advice and failed to elect against the will should not be required to pay legal fees of the executor when she mistakenly files objections to the account of the executor and then withdraws … Continue reading
The denial of disqualification of counsel representing multiple beneficiaries is not an appealable order under the collateral order doctrine even when there is alleged to be a non-waivable conflict of interest among the beneficiaries when the counsel did not previously … Continue reading
When a trust has given the surviving spouse an unlimited right to withdraw principal and a later amendment gives the spouse the right to withdraw the greater of $5,000 or 5% of the trust principal, the amendment demonstrates the intention … Continue reading
Voiding an act of self-dealing by an executor, and not surcharge, is a proper remedy when the recipient of the transfer of estate property is the executor’s wife and she is complicit, and the transfer cannot be justified as an … Continue reading
Executor was removed who failed to probate will for five years and then failed to make any distribution of the estate for nine years, failing to give notices of estate administration, failing to advertise the grant of letters, failing to … Continue reading