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 from probate which alleges undue influence, lack of testamentary capacity, and fraud as to the revocable trust and its amendments, and not the will, was dismissed without prejudice. Mode Estate, 1 Fid.Rep.4th 52 (Chester O.C. 2022).
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 said will” if he died with a will. The decedent died with a will that was executed before the marriage, but the remainder was excluded from the estate subject to the wife’s intestate share as pretermitted spouse under 20 Pa.C.S. 2105(a) (as in effect in at the decedent’s death in 1975) because she had joined in the deed. Estate of Evelyn S. Holtry, Deceased v. Sandra K. Myers, et. al., 1 Fid.Rep.4th 43 (Franklin C.D. 2023).
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 by the delay, all parties were aware that the guardian intended to make the election, and inequities and gross injustice would otherwise result. Garbutt Estate, 1 Fid.Rep.4th 29 (Chester O.C. 2022), aff’d In re: Estate of Terri Garbutt, 616 EDA 2022 (Pa. Super. 2/27/2023) (non-precedential). (The Superior Court opinion was previously reported.)
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 and falsely stated that the minor was a resident in that county even though it was undisputed that the minor had actually resided with her mother in Allegheny County, as shown on the death certificate. Gennaro Estate, 1 Fid.Rep.4th 25 (Allegheny O.C. 2022), aff’d 758 WDA 2022 (PA Super. 2/9/2023).
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 the alleged incapacitated person suffers from mild neurocognitive disorder from alcohol abuse and was at risk of financial exploitation. In Re: P.O., An Incapacitated Person, 1 Fid.Rep.4th 5 (Montgomery O.C. 2021), aff’d, 1587 EDA 2021 (PA Super. 7/15/2022) (non-precedential).
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” and excludes adopted persons. Bristol Trust, 1 Fid.Rep.4th 1 (Philadelphia O.C. 2023).
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 owed by the beneficiary and the net estate estate distributable. Estate of Geraldine M. Price, 1501 EDA 2022 (Pa. Super. 4/5/2023) (non-precedential).
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 grantor if the assets are not included in the grantor’s gross estate for federal estate tax purposes.
[For a brief explanation of grantor trusts, see “Overview: Benefits/Costs of Grantor Trusts.”]
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. § 301(b), but the decree of the Orphans’ Court was vacated and remanded because the administrator had failed to introduce any proof that the decedent had owned the property at death. In re: Estate of Vernell Smith, 378 EDA 2022 (Super. 3/24/2023) (non-precedential).
Westmoreland County has adopted a new local form of report for adoption intermediaries. “Order Adopting New Form for Report of Intermediary; No. 3 of 2023” (3/14/2023), 53 Pa.B. 1665 (3/25/2023).