The decedent’s wife (who had elected against the will) received no notice of a petition by residuary beneficiaries to remove the executor and compel an accounting, but her counsel received a copy of the executor’s answer to the petition. After … Continue reading
Category Archives: Opinions
The Orphans’ Court abused its discretion and erred as a matter of law when it disregarded the testimony of two expert witnesses that the person previously adjudicated to be incapacitated was no longer incapacitated, and relied solely on evidence of … Continue reading
The denial of various objections to the executor’s account should be affirmed on appeal: The failure of the objectant to seek discovery before trial, and the resulting failure to provide evidence to support the objections to the account, cannot be … Continue reading
After decedent’s daughter was removed as executor for failing to administer the estate, including the failure to pay the mortgage and other costs of maintaining the decedent’s residence which the daughter continued to occupy, the court gave the daughter the … Continue reading
The Orphans’ Court has mandatory jurisdiction over a challenge to the validity of a beneficiary designation to a deferred compensation plan, and so a preliminary objection to the petition was dismissed. The petition alleged that the decedent changed the beneficiary … Continue reading
Although the trust instrument restricted distributions of principal, the trustee nevertheless had the power under a provision of the Uniform Principal and Income Act (“UPIA”), 20 Pa.C.S. § 8104, to allocate amounts of principal to income, and distribute that income … Continue reading
The Orphans’ Court properly found that the alleged incapacitated person (“AIP”) was incapacitated and in need of guardianship services, notwithstanding the testimony of the AIP to the contrary, based on medical testimony that the AIP had impaired short-term memory, so … Continue reading
The fiduciary exception to the attorney-client privilege does not apply to attorney records relating to a civil action brought by a trustee against one of the beneficiaries to enforce an indemnification agreement entered into for a distribution to that beneficiary, … Continue reading
It was not a breach of fiduciary duty for the proceeds of sale of a property to be paid half to the two co-owners, mother and daughter, even though the daughter was the mother’s agent under a general power of … Continue reading
It was an error of law, and so an abuse of discretion, for the Orphans’ Court to deny a third petition for a guardian of the person when there was evidence that the electroconvulsive treatments (“ECT”) that were administered to … Continue reading