Three handwritten pages labeled “Pg 1,” “Pg 3,” and “Pg 4,” with all three paragraphs on the first page page struck through diagonally and a signature on page 4, were found to be notes of the decedent, and not a … Continue reading
Daniel Evans
A ninety year old woman suffering from dementia was unable to change her domicile, so her estate was not subject to inheritance tax even though her son had moved her from New York to an assisted living facility in Pennsylvania … Continue reading
Civil Division had concomitant jurisdiction with Orphans’ Court over life insurance proceeds that were the subject of a property settlement agreement following the divorce of the decedent and his former spouse, and had the power to impose damages on the … Continue reading
Not allowing a litigious beneficiary any oral argument after the late filing of an unconvincing brief is not grounds for recusal. Robert M. Mumma Estate, 10 Fid.Rep.3d 18 (Cumberland O.C. 2019), app. quashed, 1326 MDA 2019 (5/11/2020) (non-precedential). … Continue reading
Evidence that the decedent ended contacts with friends, stopped speaking to his son, moved to the Poconos, and remarried is not sufficient proof of undue influence by his second wife, lack of testamentary capacity, or fraud in the inducement, and … Continue reading
A trust with a remainder payable to a named charity will not violate the rule against perpetuities even though the current beneficiaries were not lives in being when the trust was created, and so the early termination of the trust … Continue reading
When there is a transfer of a residence or other real estate with a retained life estate (which is usually not recommended, because it does not avoid any inheritance tax and can restrict the ability of the transferor to sell … Continue reading
Although a nonprofit corporation formed as a volunteer fire company had been decertified and could no longer fight fires in accordance with its original charitable purposes, the Attorney General could not enforce the application of cy pres in the absence … Continue reading
The New York State Bar Association has released an ethics opinion stating that a lawyer may not dispose of wills even when the testators’ locations and circumstances are unknown, and that the lawyer must safeguard the wills indefinitely unless the … Continue reading
[This article has not yet been updated to reflect the regulations proposed at 87 F.R. 10504 (2/24/2022), the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, Division T of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, P.L. 117-328, or Notice 2023-54, 2023-31 I.R.B. ___...