The validity of the appointment of a successor trustee by the beneficiaries of the trust for a trust that was created by California settlors and provided for the interpretation of the trust in accordance with California law was to be … Continue reading
Category Archives: Opinions
The imposition of sanctions for contempt is an appealable order, and the Orphans’ Court did not abuse its discretion in holding the beneficiaries of a trust in contempt, and imposing the payment of the trustee’s legal fees as sanctions, when … Continue reading
An appeal from an order of the Orphans’ Court granting in part and denying in part a motion for reconsideration was quashed even though the issues for which reconsideration was denied were appealable because the motion for reconsideration did not … Continue reading
The Orphans’ Court properly removed the appellant as a trustee under 20 Pa.C.S. § 7766(b)(3) because he never took any steps to protect or administer the property that was transferred to the trust, and did not pay the mortgage for … Continue reading
The Orphans’ Court had jurisdiction to consider the probate of a lost will after letters of administration had been issued to the decedent’s daughter, and even though the Register of Wills had never acted on a petition to probate the … Continue reading
The tax clause in the will directed that the estate and inheritance taxes payable “with respect to property or interests passing my will” were to be paid from the residue without apportionment, and so under 72 P.S. § 9144(f), the … Continue reading
The PA Supreme Court has allowed an appeal on the following issue (as stated by the petitioner): “Where a non-party to a partnership agreement is not a signatory to the agreement and is not a third-party beneficiary of it and … Continue reading
The Supreme Court has reversed the Superior Court and ruled that when a trust is created by an agent acting under a power of attorney that is void ab initio, the trust is also void. In re: Joseph L. Koepfinger, … Continue reading
The trustee was properly removed for commingling trust assets with his own, failing to make distributions in accordance with the trust instrument, and making distributions to himself without the approval of a disinterested trustee as required by the trust instrument. … Continue reading
A claimant born during the marriage of the decedent and the person’s mother, and “held out” by the decedent as a child of the decedent, was nevertheless not an “issue” entitled to an intestate share of the decedent’s estate when … Continue reading