When a charitable nonprofit corporation did not agree to maintain a mosaic on the outside of the building it owns, the preservation of the mosaic would be expensive and is not within the charity’s exempt purposes, and the decision of the charity to sell the building is a reasonable business decision, it was error for the Orphans’ Court to deny the charity’s petition to sell the building, effectively imposing on the charity an obligation to maintain the mosaic. In Re: Painted Bride Art Center, Inc., No. 1642 C.D. 2019 (Cmwlth. Ct. 10/20/2020) (not reported).
The Internal Revenue Service has announced federal rates for the month of November under §§ 1274 and 7520 of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”), one of which will be the lowest rate since the IRS began publishing federal interest rates in 1984.
- The federal short-term rate under §1274, which would apply to (among other things) an intra-family loan under §7872 with a term of not more than three years, will be 0.13%, which is lower than the 0.14% which applied in September and October.
- The November mid-term and long-term rates of 0.39% and 1.17% will be somewhat higher that the rates of 0.35% and 1.00% that applied in September.
- The §7520 rate, which is used to value life estate, annuities, and remainders, will remain at 0.4%, which is the record low first set in August.
For information on estate planning techniques to take advantage of these low rates, see “Low-Interest Estate Planning Strategies” (subscription required), which contains links to the Webcalculators overviews of long-term GRATs and interest-only term notes (no subscription required for those overviews) and sample calculations from Webcalculators.
Preliminary objections to an answer and new matter is not a pleading allowed by Pa. O.C. Rules and is improper. Further, a party does not lack standing merely because the petition fails to name them as an interested party. Mahlstadt Estate, 10 Fid.Rep.3d 244 (Monroe O.C. 2020).
An agent’s change of an IRA beneficiary was invalid when the decedent was obligated under a divorce settlement agreement to name his children as beneficiaries. Trembley Agent for Lasser, 10 Fid.Rep.3d 229 (Chester O.C. 2020).
The Advisory Council on Elder Justice in the Courts and the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts have published the “Guardianship Bench Book” intended to provide judges with a practical guide to making critical guardianship decisions.
Although written as a guide for judges, this book should also be a valuable resource to practitioners, and a PDF copy of the book can be downloaded by clicking on the link above.
The Orphans’ Court did not abuse its discretion in allowing a surviving spouse to revoke her election against her husband’s will three and a half years after the deadline for making the election when the spouse did not have full knowledge of essential facts when she made the election and no other parties would be prejudiced by the delay. In re: Estate of Caleem L. Jabbour, Deceased, 2020 PA Super 299, 244 A.3d 1254 (12/30/2020), rev’d, ___ Pa. ____, 276 A.3d 1180, 13 WAP 2021 (6/22/2022). (A previous Superior Court opinion, which also affirmed the lower court and was published as 2020 PA Super 244 on 10/7/2020, was withdrawn following reargument.)
A settlement agreement disposing of all objections to an account of the executors, negotiated during a settlement conference conducted by a master appointed by the Orphans’ Court, will be enforced against a well -educated and intelligent pro se litigant who was an active and cooperative participant in the settlement conference despite her later claims that she did not understand the binding nature of the agreement she signed. Szafara Estate, 10 Fid.Rep.3d 200 (Bucks O.C. 2020), aff’d 1256 EDA 2020 (Pa. Super. 9/8/2021) (non-precedential), petition for allowance of appeal, 552 MAL 2021.
In a declaratory judgment action, the Orphans’ Court interpreted and applied the contracts, assignments, and other documents signed by the decedent, the executor, and a claimant against the estate to determine the ownership of commissions payable to an agency that had been owned by the decedent and purchased by the claimant, not considering allegations of fraud by the decedent or other misconduct as not properly before the court. Godlewski Estate, 10 Fid.Rep.3d 217 (Chester O.C. 2019).
The Internal Revenue Service has published final regulations on the deductibility of administration expenses for both estates and trusts and for their beneficiaries when the estates or trusts terminate. “Effect of Section 67(g) on Trusts and Estates,” TD 9918, 85…
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Under the new regulations for I.R.C. §§ 67 and 642(h), it becomes even more important for both estates and trusts and their beneficiaries to determine which administration expenses are deductible and which are not. (See “Final Regulations on Administration Expenses…
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