An award from the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund was not payable to the surviving spouse, despite the language of 20 Pa.C.S. § 2102(2), because it was not payable under the act specified in that section, the Air Transportation Safety and … Continue reading
Category Archives: Opinions
The compensation of a lawyer who served as administrator of the estate, submitted a fee agreement to beneficiaries specifying compensation at an hourly rate, and kept hourly time records with specific descriptions of work was nevertheless reduced by more than … Continue reading
The court that approved the original settlement of the litigation for a minor’s injuries had jurisdiction to issue an order under Pa.R.C.P. 213.1 to consolidate actions in other counties approving the sale of annuities held for the benefit of the … Continue reading
Partial summary judgment was granted on the “substantial benefit” element of undue influence when the contested will left the entire estate to the proponent of the will (who was also the mother’s caretaker) despite the proponent’s claim that the additional … Continue reading
In a dispute over legal fees paid by a trustee, the Orphans’ Court had ordered the trustee to turn over to the beneficiaries unredacted invoices for legal fees paid, and an evenly divided Supreme Court has affirmed the order. In … Continue reading
Travel expenses of the administrator were allowed for gas, U-Haul rentals, and hotels over the objections of creditors of an insolvent estate, the court finding that the trips from the administrator’s home in Florida to Pennsylvania were reasonable and appropriate, … Continue reading
On an appeal from probate, petitioner failed to answer discovery requests and was sanctioned by being barred from introducing evidence of undue influence or lack of capacity. For the remaining allegations of fraud and forgery, the petitioner did not present … Continue reading
In the absence of independent testimony to the delivery of lifetime gifts, the wife’s interests in the alleged gifts was adverse to the decedent and so her testimony as to the gifts was barred by the Dead Man’s Act. In … Continue reading
In an action to set aside a deed allegedly obtained by undue influence, plaintiff’s testimony that she and the defendant were friends and she trusted him, and that she was “weak in bode and mind” following the death of her … Continue reading
The court did not have jurisdiction to determine the priority of a purchase money mortgage over a later inheritance tax lien when the mortgage holder failed to exhaust the administrative remedies found in § 2186 of the Inheritance and Estate … Continue reading