Armstrong County has amended its local Orphans’ Court rules by rescinding local rule 12.16, effective thirty days after publication.
Adoption of New Local Rules of Court—2002; No. CP-03-AD-0000189-2002, 46 Pa.B. 2035 (4/23/16).
Appeal from probate denied where testamentary capacity was supported by testimony of attorney who prepared will, subscribing witnesses, and other disinterested parties, and no confidential relationship shown to support allegation of undue influence. Lewis Will, 6 Fid.Rep.3d 123 (O.C. Allegheny 2016) (opinion by O’Toole, A.J.), app. quashed, No. 155 WDA 2016 (Pa.Super. 10/11/2016) (non-precedential).
Wife continued to be a co-trustee and beneficiary of the husband’s irrevocable trust even after the divorce of the parties where (a) the trust document made no provision for the possibility of divorce, (b) the irrevocable trust was the beneficiary of a life insurance policy owned by wife’s revocable trust, which was the owner of the cash surrender value of the policy under a split-dollar agreement, (c) the divorce agreement allowed the wife to keep the insurance policy and cash surrender value, and made no mention of the irrevocable trust, and (d) the wife continued to pay insurance premiums following the divorce. Klein Trust, 6 Fid.Rep.3d 118 (O.C. Monroe 2016) (opinion by Williamson, J.)
Nonprofit advocacy organization which was removed as counsel for alleged incapacitated person (“AIP”), but allowed to participate in guardianship proceedings as amicus curae while the AIP was represented by court-appointed counsel, should not have standing to appeal adjudication of incapacity. In re Sabatino, 6 Fid.Rep.3d 101 (O.C. Montgomery 2016) (opinion by Ott, Sr.J.), aff’d on other grounds, No. 3836 EDA 2015 (Pa. Super. 11/30/2016) (non-precedential; organization had standing to appeal, and orders affirmed on the merits, any error being harmless; remanded on issue of allocation of costs of expert testimony).
When residence owned as joint tenants with right of survivorship was destroyed by fire before the death of one tenant, proceeds of property insurance are divided between the estate of the deceased tenant and the surviving tenant. Miscella Estate, 6 Fid.Rep.3d 97 (O.C. Monroe Co. 2016) (opinion by Williamson, J.).
Pennsylvania has enacted a new “Caregiver Advise, Record and Enable Act” (CARE Act), H.B. 1329, Act of April 20, 2016, No. 20, effective in 12 months. This new law attempts to help family members and other “lay caregivers” of people…
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Both houses of the Pennsylvania legislature have approved SB 879, the “Pennsylvania ABLE Act” (an unconsolidated statute), which allows the creation of “ABLE” savings accounts intended to qualify under IRC section 529A. (“ABLE” is an acronym for “Achieving a Better Life Experience.”)
Section 529A allows the creation of savings accounts for people with disabilities that act somewhat like the education accounts authorized by section 529, except that it refers to “qualified disability expenses” instead of “qualified education expenses.”
Look for an article on the Pennsylvania ABLE Act and section 529A in the near future.
Update: SB 879 was approved by the Governor on 4/18/2016, becoming Act No. 17 of 2016.
A nephew has no cause of action for “loss of consortium and the los[s] of support, cooperation, aid, companionship and loving interactive relationship” with aunt and uncle alleging resulting from their mistreatment. Scott T. Young v. Estate of Frank J. Young and Norma Young, No. 658 C.D. 2015 (Pa. Cmnwlth. 4/12/16).
The Supreme Court has issued an order allowing an appeal from the decision of the Superior Court in Trust under Agreement of Edward Winslow Taylor, 2015 PA Super 199, (9/18/2015), (dissent by Platt, J.). No. 692 EAL 2015 (4/12/16). In its order, the Supreme Court restated the issue as follows:
The issue presented by petitioner and rephrased for clarity is whether theSuperior Court erred in holding that trust beneficiaries may circumvent the requirements for removal of a trustee in Section 7766 of the Trust Act, 20 Pa.C.S.A. § 7766, by amending the trust under 20 Pa.C.S.A. § 7740.1.
For additional background and analysis, see Trust Modifications to Remove Trustees.
The IRS has announced that the deadline for filing Form 8971, and for providing Schedule A to beneficiaries, previously postponed to February 29 by Notice 2015-57, and then postponed to March 31 by Notice 2016-19, has again been postponed, this time to June 30. Notice 16-27 (3/23/16).
For background on the new basis reporting rules and Form 8971, see “Consistent Basis Reporting Required,” “New Basis Reporting Form,” and “Basis Reporting Form Released.”