Will with electronic signature, affixed by the decedent using DocVerify system during a videoconference with two witnesses and a notary public, is not a valid will, which requires an “actual ink to paper” signature. Kittler Estate, 1 Fid.Rep.4th 53 (Lancaster … Continue reading
Daniel Evans
Challenges to the validity of a revocable trust must be made by a petition to the Orphans’ Court, and not by an appeal from the probate of the will of which the trust is a beneficiary, and so the appeal … Continue reading
Before marrying his wife, the decedent executed a deed conveying a life estate to the woman who would later become his wife if she survived him, with the remainder passing at her death to “the parties entitled thereto in the … Continue reading
A late spousal election under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2210 by the guardian of an incapacitated spouse will be allowed when the COVID-19 pandemic struck between the date of death and the six month filing deadline, the estate was not harmed … Continue reading
The decision of the Register of Wills to deny letters of administration to the father of the minor decedent, and grant letters to the mother instead, was affirmed because the father had filed a petition for letters in Beaver County … Continue reading
A limited guardian of the person and limited guardian of the estate was appointed due to problems with alcoholism and nutrition, leading to repeated hospital admissions for dehydration and malnutrition, the court finding partial incapacity based on expert testimony that … Continue reading
An adopted child was a member of a current beneficiary’s “immediate family” and therefore eligible to receive discretionary principal distributions even though distributions of principal upon the death of the beneficiary are limited to members of the settlor’s “blood line” … Continue reading
The Orphans’ Court correctly concluded that the rent payable by a beneficiary to the estate under a family settlement agreement should be divided among all of the beneficiaries, including the beneficiary paying the rent, but incorrectly calculated the net rent … Continue reading
In Rev. Rul. 2023-2, ___ I.R.B. ___, the Internal Revenue Service has held that assets held in an irrevocable trust that was a grantor trust do not receive a new basis under I.R.C. § 1014 on the death of the … Continue reading
In an ejectment action brought by the administrator of an estate, the heirs of the decedent were not indispensible parties even though title to the property had passed to the heirs at the death of the decedent under 20 Pa.C.S. … Continue reading