Bucks County has published new fee schedules for the Clerk of the Orphans’ Court and the Register of Wills. “Fees of the Clerk of the Orphans’ Court; Administrative Order No. 125” (8/19/2025), 55 Pa.B. 6171 (8/30/2025); “”Fees of the Register of Wills; Administrative Order No. 124” (8/19/2025), 55 Pa.B. 6174 (8/30/2025).
Adams County has adopted a new local Orphans’ Court Rule 2.9 on the procedure for confirmation of accounts. “Rules of Orphans’ Court; Administrative Order; No. 5 of 2025” (7/31/2025), 55 Pa.B. 6044 (8/23/2025).
A deed from a joint tenant to herself was insufficient to sever the joint tenancy and create a tenancy in common with the other joint tenant. Grant v. Grant, ___ A.4th ___, 18 WAP 2024 (Pa. 8/19/2025).
The Orphans’ Court Procedural Rule Committee has proposed amendments to Pa. R.O.C.P. 5.8, on the discharge of a fiduciary, in order to clarify that the rule does not apply to the discharge of a trustee under a nonjudicial settlement.
Comments, suggestions, or objections to the proposed amendment should be submitted by email (which is preferred) or regular mail and should be received by October 17, 2025.
“Proposed Amendment of Pa. R.O.C.P. 5.8,” 55 Pa.B. 5856 (8/16/2025).
The Orphans’ Court Procedural Rule Committee has proposed amendments to Pa. R.O.C.P. 7.1 in order to include the procedures under Pa. R.Civ.P. 234.3 for notices to a party to attend a hearing or produce documents or things, and in order to to clarify that the discovery rules of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure should apply in cases in which there are no local Orphans’ Court rules for discovery and no local civil rules for discovery.
Comments, suggestions, or objections to the proposed amendment should be submitted by email (which is preferred) or regular mail and should be received by October 17, 2025.
“Proposed Amendment of Pa. R.O.C.P. 7.1,” 55 Pa.B. 5858 (8/16/2025).
The Orphans’ Court had subject matter jurisdiction over a complaint alleging that changes in a public park violated the Donated Property Act, the Inalienable Property Act, and the Environmental Rights Amendment. In re: Preservation of FDR Park, ___ A.4th ___, 545 CD 2024 (Pa. Cmwlth. 8/13/2025).
It was not error for the Orphans’ Court to refuse to consider the actions taken by the executor to administer the estate after the petition for removal had been filed. In re: Estate of Linda J. Cook, 859 WDA 2024 (Pa. Super. 8/12/2025) (non-precedential).
When the two trustees disagreed about whether to sell the real property held in the trust or to continue to rent it out, one trustee was removed for breaches of trust because he acted unilaterally to stop offering the property for rent, which caused a loss of income for the trust, and he used trust funds to hire a lawyer to force a sale of the the property without consulting the co-trustee. Those actions were also a failure to cooperate that substantially impaired the administration of the trust, also supporting removal. The court declined to issue any order resolving the question of whether or not to sell the property until the remaining trustee and the new co-trustee had had an opportunity to agree on how to exercise their discretion. Smith Living Trust, 3 Fid.Rep.4th 71 (Montgomery O.C. 2025).
The Internal Revenue Service has published a draft of Form 706, “United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return,” for decedents dying in 2025.
There are a number of changes from the 2024 version of Form 706, some similar to the changes made to the gift tax return (Form 709), and those practitioners who will need to file federal estate tax returns for 2025 will want to start reviewing the return now to be prepared to complete and file the revised return when it is final.
[Update: The final version of the new Form 706 was released on 9/5/2025.)
In the article on the increase in the federal estate tax exclusion amount under the “megabill” enacted as P.L. 119-21 (see “Federal Estate Tax Exclusion Increased to $15 Million”), it was reported that a number of income tax provisions that…
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