Berks County has rescinded Orphans’ Court Local Rules 14.3A (“Evaluation”) and 14.4A (“Representation of alleged incapacitated person”), effective thirty days after publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. “Amendments to Local Rules; No. 26-11 Prothonotary; Orphans’ Court No. 60539” (3/2/2026), 56 Pa.B. … Continue reading
Daniel Evans
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has “vacated” the regulation requiring reports of non-financed residential real estate transactions as outside of the scope of the authority granted by Congress. Flowers Title Companies LLC v. Bessent, … Continue reading
Erie Orphans’ Court Rule 5.6, for the emergency appointment of a guardian of the estate or person of a minor, has been rescinded, effective thirty days after publication in the Pa. Bulletin. “Order Rescinding Erie O.C.R. 5.6; Doc. No. 2026-00042” … Continue reading
The decedent’s will appointed one of the decedent’s children as executor and directed that, if there was any dispute as to any property, the executor had the power to divide the assets of the estate among the children in the … Continue reading
Westmoreland County’s website now includes a statement that “Pursuant to Court Administrative Order, all filings must an include an affidavit regarding Generative Artificial Intelligence,” and the “Forms” page now includes a form for use in the Court of Common Pleas, … Continue reading
The Department of the Treasury has announced that the effective date for final regulations proposed in 2024 (published at 89 FR 58644) to implement the changes to required minimum distributions rules made by to conform to SECURE Act 2.0 of … Continue reading
The decedent’s wife (who had elected against the will) received no notice of a petition by residuary beneficiaries to remove the executor and compel an accounting, but her counsel received a copy of the executor’s answer to the petition. After … Continue reading
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
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