The Orphans’ Court Procedural Rules Committee has proposed a new Pa.R.O.C.P. 1.20 that would allow the Orphans’ Court to conduct proceedings using “advanced communication technology,” which is defined as “any communication technology providing for two-way simultaneous communication of image and … Continue reading
Daniel Evans
The Superior Court affirmed a decision of the Orphans’ Court holding that a trust modification that allowed the beneficiaries to remove and replace trustees was ineffective even with the consent of the settlor. Garrison Trusts, 10 Fid.Rep.3d 189 (Montgomery O.C. … Continue reading
The Internal Revenue Service has released Rev. Proc. 2021-45 with inflation adjustments for 2022 and, consistent with earlier predictions, the changes in the most significant federal estate and trust planning numbers will be as follows: The base applicable exclusion amount (and generation-skipping tax … Continue reading
A 1954 letter from the corporate trustee stating that its compensation would be 5% of income was a fee agreement binding the trustee, and the trustee did not provide sufficient evidence that additional compensation should be allowed under 20 Pa.C.S. … Continue reading
Addressing a series of inter-related in limine motions and motions for summary judgment, the court held that: Although a party with an interest adverse to the estate may be barred from testifying under the Dead Man’s Act, the spouse of … Continue reading
A motion to allow the deposition of possible witnesses that was made seven months after the witnesses were identified in supplemental answers to interrogatories, five months after the close of discovery, a month after receiving the other party’s pretrial memorandum, … Continue reading
When a will has no provisions for the resignation of, or successors to, a testamentary trustee, 20 Pa.C.S. §§ 7765(a.1(e) and 7764(c)(2) allow the beneficiaries to accept the resignation of the corporate trustee, and allow the qualified beneficiaries to appoint … Continue reading
When a testator divorces, then remarries the former spouse, and then dies without changing the will from the first marriage, the surviving spouse is entitled to an intestate share under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2507(3). In re: Estate of Tom D. … Continue reading
A beneficiary who is entitled to an annuity of $2,400 each year for life from a trust of about $73 million had standing to object to transactions of the trustee alleged to be breaches of fiduciary duties, as well as … Continue reading
The Supreme Court has adopted a new Rule of Evidence 413 that would allow evidence of immigration status to be used only if relevant to an element of an action or defense, or to a party’s or witness’s motive. “Order … Continue reading