When a person dies without a will, or dies with a will that does not have a residuary clause or does not dispose of the decedent’s entire estate, then the part of the decedent’s estate not disposed of by a…
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 Super. 2/22/2019) (non-precedential).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 executor or administrator of a decedent’s estate is required to file the estate tax return for the estate (I.R.C. § 6018(a)) and is liable for the resulting tax (I.R.C. § 2002), and is required to file the decedent’s income…
IRC section 645 allows an election to treat a revocable trust as part of the estate of the settlor for income tax purposes, which allows revocable trusts to file income tax returns as estates following the death of the settlor…
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.
The Orphans’ Court had the power to change the will of an incapacitated person and substitute its judgment for that of the incapacitated person even though changes to an incapacitated person’s will are not among the specific powers listed in 20 Pa.C.S. § 5536(b), and the decision of the Orphans’ Court to disinherit stepchildren after their father had disinherited the incapacitated person and her children was supported by a preponderance of the evidence. In re: Petition of Sandra Navarra by the Limited Guardian of Her Estate, 185 A.3d 342, 2018 PA Super 84 (4/11/2018), aff’ng 7 Fid.Rep.3d 39 (O.C. Lawrence Co. 2016).
The Superior Court also held that the death of one of the stepchildren during the proceeding deprived the Orphans’ Court of jurisdiction over the dispute with that stepchild, and so vacated the judgment of the court as to that stepchild. See “Death of a Litigant in the Orphans’ Court” for a more detailed analysis of that part of the decision.
One would think that marriage should be a binary condition: It is either “on” or “off,” because two people are either “married” or “not married.” And that is certainly true of the “on” condition, because the Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries…