Decedent’s will contained only one bequest, to his brother of the “real estate interest” in the bar the decedent co-owned with his brother. Because the will had no residuary clause, the bar was in a leased property which the decedent did not own, and the express purpose of the will was “regarding my business interest” in the bar, the will was interpreted to leave all of the decedent’s interests in the bar to his brother. Estate of Daniel Avington, 9 Fid.Rep.3d 238, O.C. No. 1002 DE of 2017 (Philadelphia O.C. 4/23/2018).
Trust created by agent under power of attorney was invalid because the agent failed to preserve the principal’s estate plan, the principal having no will and the trust benefiting only three of the principal’s seven children. Capobianco Estate, Power of Attorney, 8 Fid.Rep.3d 201, O.C. No. 1371 PR of 2016 (Philadelphia O.C. 4/18/2018), aff’d, No. 3148 EDA 2019 (Pa. Super. 7/21/2020).
As a co-agent with her husband, a wife had a duty to the principal to act on her knowledge of her husband’s actions to protect the principal from theft and fraud by the husband as co-agent, and is therefore jointly and severally liable for the funds taken improperly from the principal’s accounts. The court also retroactively imposed a constructive trust upon the residence of the husband and wife, which was improved using the appropriated funds and transferred from the husband to the wife as part of a sham divorce. In Re: Peter S. Whitby, Principal, 8 Fid.Rep.3d 92 (Montgomery O.C. 2018), aff’d, 561 EDA 2018 (Pa. Super. 2/22/2019) (non-precedential).
The Internal Revenue Service has introduced a new online service that can provide additional information about tax-exempt organizations.
According to IR-2018-116, the new Tax Exempt Organization Search (TEOS) replaces EO Select Check (a more limited service available since 2012) and makes images of newly-filed Forms 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF, and 990-T available on-line, as well as determination letters. TEOS also allows access to more types of information, allows searches across multiple data files, and is designed to be “mobile friendly” and allow searches through smartphones or tablets.
Initially, only 990 series forms filed in January and February 2018 along with a limited number of determination letters will be available. New Form 990 filings will be added monthly, and eventually determination letters issues since January 2014 will be added.
The order of the Supreme Court that amended the public access policy of the Pennsylvania courts and was published at 48 Pa.B. 2113 (4/14/2018) has been republished as an “Amended Order” at 48 Pa.B. 2602 (5/5/2018). The only apparent change is that “Case Record” has been changed to “Case Records” in the title of the policy.
For a summary of the changes made by the amendments, see “Public Access Policy Amendments.”
The recent decision of the Superior Court in In re: Petition of Sandra Navarra by the Limited Guardian of Her Estate, 2018 PA Super 84 (4/11/2018), aff’g 7 Fid.Rep.3d 39 (O.C. Lawrence Co. 2016), is significant in addressing the power of the Orphans’ Court…
The Internal Revenue Service has released Rev. Proc. 2018-22, 2018-18 I.R.B. __ (4/30/2018), which modifies and supersedes two sections of Rev. Proc. 2018-18, 2018-10 I.R.B. 392 (3/5/2018), which contained revised inflation adjustments for 2018.
The change that affect fiduciary income tax is the correction of the 2018 alternative minimum tax threshold amount for estates and trusts, which had been stated to be $500,000 in Rev. Proc. 2018-18 but should have been $81,900.
The previously published summary of P.L. 115-97 has been revised to reflect the publication of Rev. Proc. 2018-18.