No Action for Interference with Inheritance for Lifetime Transfers

Based upon a copy of a will alleged to have been signed before the will that was probated, the petitioners attempted to claim the proceeds of sale of real property in Turkey that was sold by the guardian of the decedent’s estate with the approval of the Turkish courts after the decedent was declared to be incapacitated in Pennsylvania. The Orphans’ Court held that (a) Pennsylvania does not allow a cause of action for interference with a right of inheritance when the alleged interference took place during the decedent’s lifetime (and a constructive trust is a remedy and not a cause of action); (b) the claims were time barred because they were made more than one year after the probate of the later will and more than 30 days after court approval of the sale of the property, to which the petitioners were not entitled to notice because they did not reside in Pennsylvania; (c) the probated will left “everything” to the named beneficiary and there is no ambiguity to be reconciled with the earlier will; and (d) there was no basis upon which to question the approval of the sale by the Turkish courts. Camlibel Estate (No. 2), 3 Fid.Rep.4th 29 (Allegheny O.C. 2025).

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