Philadelphia courts (and related offices) will be closed until at least April 1. President Judge Administrative Order No. 10-2020 In re: EMERGENCY JUDICIAL ORDER. President Judge Administrative Order No. 8-2020 In re: Stay of the Execution of Alias Writs of … Continue reading
Category Archives: News
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Delaware County has entered an order declaring a judicial emergency, as a result of which the courthouse (and government center where the Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans’ Court is located) will be … Continue reading
The following is a 3/16/2020 news release from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court: Amid COVID-19 mitigation efforts, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court today declared a statewide judicial emergency effective until April 14, 2020. With the emergency declaration in place, county president judges are … Continue reading
The COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) contagion is starting to affect court operations in Pennsylvania. By an administrative order dated March 12, 2020, the Montgomery County Orphans’ Court has suspended the call of the audit list in open court and has adopted … Continue reading
The Required Minimum Distribution Webcalculator has been updated to incorporate the changes made by the SECURE Act (Division O of P.L. 116-94). Specifically: The required beginning age for lifetime distributions has been changed from 70-1/2 to 72 for persons who … 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
I’ve seen more than one article recommending that, when we (meaning the public generally and not just lawyers) write the year on checks and other documents, we should write out the whole year, “2020,” and not just the last two … Continue reading
I recently learned that, when subscribers log onto this site, they don’t see the home page, but a “profile” or “dashboard” page which I found to be both confusing and useless. I’ve reconfigured the site so that, after logging in, … Continue reading
It was previously reported that new Orphans’ Court forms, and new forms for use before the Register of Wills, had been posted to the collection of Orphans’ Court forms on the pacourts.us website, to be effective January 1, 2020. It … Continue reading
The Supreme Court has entered an order adopting a new Pa.O.C. Rule 1.40 which applies Pa.R.C.P. 240 (“In Forma Pauperis“) to Orphans’ Court proceedings, to be effective April 1, 2020. Rule 14.8, on guardianship reporting, has also been amended to … Continue reading