With the release of the Chained Consumer Price Index (C-CPI-U) for August 2019, it’s possible to calculate various inflation adjustments for 2020. The following are the significant federal estate planning numbers, with the numbers for 2019 shown in parentheses: The … Continue reading
Daniel Evans
As of September 1, 2019, Webcalculators (wcalcs.com), my on-line service that works in any browser and provides authoritative analyses of estate and trust, tax, and financial planning techniques and options, has moved out of testing and has been released on a subscription … Continue reading
The Supreme Court has amended Rule of Professional Conduct 1.6 to allow lawyers to reveal confidential information to the extent that the lawyer reasonably believes necessary “to comply with other law or court order.” The amendment is effective in 30 … Continue reading
The Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has proposed an amendment to Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4 that would add a new paragraph (g) to make it professional misconduct for a lawyer to “in the practice of law, … Continue reading
The Supreme Court is considering changes to several procedural rules, including Pa.R.J.A. 103 (the procedures for adopting, filing, and publishing rules) and Pa. O.C. Rule 1.1 (short title and citation to the Orphans’ Court Rules). The stated purpose of the … Continue reading
Under the amended version of 20 Pa.C.S. § 2106(b), a parent may be found to have forfeited an intestate share of the estate of a child for failure to support the child even if the failure of support is not … Continue reading
The Orphans’ Court improperly excluded documentary evidence of the birth records of claimants to the estate, and could not exclude the testimony of a genealogical witness to be paid on a contingent fee for a violation of the Rules of … Continue reading
The Pennsylvania Lawyers Fund for Client Security has proposed amendments to the Rules of Disciplinary Enforcement relating to the Fund. It is stated that the majority of the amendments are “administrative in nature, or memorialize the existing practice.” “Proposed Amendments … Continue reading
The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts has revised and republished the list of applicable authorities that restrict public access to court records. “Case Records Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania,” 49 Pa.B. 4544 (8/17/19). The revisions … Continue reading
In two separate orders, Delaware County has adopted several new local Orphans’ Court rules addressing guardianships, cemetery companies, and settlement of small estates. “Local Orphans’ Court Rules Nos. 14.2—14.13; Guardianships; Orphans’ Court No. 497-19; Judicial Support Civil No. 17-5120” (Delaware … Continue reading