It was error for the Orphans’ Court to fail to grant a continuance to a parent to obtain counsel in a proceeding to terminate his parental rights when the parent failed to request counsel from the court but three of … Continue reading
Category Archives: Opinions
Property purchased by township through the Project 70 Land Acquisition and Borrowing Act, 72 P.S. §§ 3946.1 et seq., and dedicated to public use as a park, cannot be sold by the township to private developers, and the township cannot … Continue reading
The Orphans’ Court has the power to enforce through civil contempt an order requiring a former fiduciary to pay a surcharge in installments, and may order incarceration for the former fiduciary when he contemptuously fails to make the required payments, … Continue reading
The Civil Division has jurisdiction over a contractual claim against an estate and its executor, but the trial court erred in “piercing the corporate veil” and finding an executor-beneficiary personally liable for debts incurred by a corporation of which the … Continue reading
Both the Orphans’ Court of the county where letters of administration were issued and the Civil Division of the county in which the administrator brought a wrongful death and survivor action have jurisdiction over issues relating to the distribution of … Continue reading
Although father testified that home he purchased for his own use was titled in joint names with his son for “estate planning purposes,” proceeds of sale were shown to have been paid to father and son equally, and deposit of … Continue reading
An agent with the power to receive the income or corpus of a trust, as provided in 20 Pa.C.S. § 5602(a)(7), cannot revoke the principal’s revocable trust by withdrawing all of the income and principal; an agent’s power over a … Continue reading
A same-sex couple could enter into a valid common law marriage before 2005, and the evidence supported the existence of the marriage. In re: Estate of Stephen Carter, 159 A.3d 970, 2017 PA Super 104 (2017). … Continue reading
Objections to executor commission and legal fees denied when executor-lawyer who was one of three executors claimed commission of $70,000 and legal fees of $90,000 out of estate of almost $10 million. Keller Estate, 7 Fid.Rep.3d 90 (O.C. Montgomery Co. … Continue reading
Agent under power of attorney who was appointed “to serve jointly” with co-agent, but who acted alone, is surcharged for unexplained or unaccounted for expenditures, for changing an IRA beneficiary to herself, which was inconsistent with the principal’s intent as … Continue reading