The rules of construction for lapsed legacies which are found at 20 Pa.C.S. § 2514(9), (10), and (11) apply only to individuals and so are not relevant to the cy pres doctrine, which the Orphans’ Court properly applied in directing that a share of the income of a charitable trust be paid to the nonprofit community foundation that is the successor to the hospital that was the original beneficiary of the trust and that supports the health care needs of the same community formerly served by the hospital. In re: Trust Created under the Will of William J. Cohen, 2018 PA Super 138 (5/25/2018).
Philadelphia has updated its public access rules to reflect amendments to the statewide public access policy. “Amendment of Phila.R.J.A. Nos. *401, *402 and *403; No. 02 of 2017” (Philadelphia Co. 5/10/2018), 48 Pa.B. 3078 (5/26/2018).
Butler County has issued an administrative order restricting public access to indices of the Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans’ Court. “Register of Wills—Clerk of the Orphans’ Court, Public Access; MsD 1 of 2018” (Butler Co. 5/2/2018), 48 Pa.B. 3081 (5/26/2018).
Trustee of terminating trust had proposed distribution directly to a public school, rather than to a trustee for the school, believing that the costs of administering the trust would outweigh the benefits of the trust, but the Attorney General objected and it was ordered that the distribution be made to a community foundation for the benefit of the school. Leese Estate, 8 Fid.Rep.3d 139 (York Co. O.C. 2018).
Fees of guardian and her counsel were approved over objections of the trustee of the ward’s revocable trust in Florida, the request for counsel fees by the trustee were denied, and the guardian was granted permission to submit a new budget for the needs of the ward, which funds would need to be requested from the Florida trustee, over which the Pennsylvania court had no jurisdiction. In Re: Estate of Connie Greco, Alleged Incapacitated Person, 8 Fid.Rep.3d 133 (Montgomery Co. O.C. 2018), aff’d, 812 EDA 2018 (Pa. Super. 2/21/2019) (non-precedential).
Son was allowed to intervene in litigation which his deceased father had begun over the validity of a trust allegedly created by the father, even though the son’s interests as a beneficiary under his father’s will were protected by the administrator of his father’s estate, when there was also a dispute about whether assets of his mother’s trust had been improperly transferred to his father’s trust. Because of the overlap of factual issues between the two trusts, the trials over the father’s trust and mother’s trust were consolidated. Summary judgment on the issue of the validity of the father’s trust was denied because of factual issues surrounding the alleged execution of the trust, and summary judgment was also denied on whether the property transferred to the father’s trust would revert to joint tenancy with the daughter if the trust were found to be voidable. Altemose Trusts, 8 Fid.Rep.3d 119 (Monroe Co. O.C. 2018).
The Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has proposed a new Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4(g) that would make it a matter of professional misconduct to “knowingly manifest bias or prejudice” in the practice of law. “Proposed Amendments to the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct Regarding Misconduct,” 48 Pa.B. 2936 (5/19/2018).
The Supreme Court has published an updated list of the financial institutions which are “eligible institutions” in which lawyers may deposit funds held by the lawyer as a personal representative, guardian, conservator, receiver, trustee, agent under a durable power of attorney, or other similar position. (See Pa.R.D.E. 221(b) and Pa.R.P.C. 1.15(a)(2).) “Financial Institutions Approved as Depositories for Fiduciary Accounts; No. 159 Disciplinary Rules Doc.,” 48 Pa.B. 2944 (5/19/2018).
The most recent list can be found in this directory.
Order allowing a “private auction” of real estate among the beneficiaries of the estate was an order that determined an interest in real property within the meaning of Pa.R.A.P. 342(a)(6), so that it was appealable as of right and the failure to appeal from the order was a waiver of the right to appeal. The gains realized by on the sales of the properties should have been reported by the estate and not reported as gains on sales by the beneficiaries of the estate, but the method used to determine basis of the properties, by multiplying the assessed value by the common level ratio, was proper. The finding by the Orphans’ Court that mineral rights in the real property were owned by a beneficiary and not the estate was vacated because it was based entirely on judicial notice of a deed without notice to any party or any opportunity to challenge the implications of the deed. Krasinski Estate, 2018 PA Super 130 (5/15/2018) (en banc), aff’d, 40 WAP 2018 and 41 WAP 2018 (Pa. 10/31/2019) (decree denying objector’s interests in real estate was immediately appealable and so failure to appeal waived any right to a later appeal), aff’g in part, rev’g in part, vacating in part, and remanding, 5 Fid. Rep. 3d 275 (Clearfield Co. O.C. 2015).
Guardian who was found to have engaged in acts of self-dealing and was removed as guardian, and whose account showed that funds were paid to the guardian and to possibly fictitious third parties without explanation, was denied any compensation as guardian and was surcharged for improper expenditures, for guardian compensation previously paid, and for legal fees and costs incurred by the successor guardian in objecting to the account. Berg Estates (Estates of Margareta Berg and Edmund Berg, Incapacitated Persons), 8 Fid.Rep.3d 207, O.C. No. 1286 IC of 2016 and 1287 IC of 2016 (Philadelphia O.C. 5/10/2018).