A residuary beneficiary is entitled to notice of the filing of a petition to remove the executor of the estate, and notice of the hearing on the petition. The order of the Orphans’ Court removing the executor and ordering the beneficiary to vacate the decedent’s residence was therefore vacated and the case remanded. The issue of whether the beneficiary had standing was not raised by any party and so was waived, and it was improper for the Orphans’ Court to raise it sua sponte. In re: Estate of Dolores Mae Zupancic, 1483 WDA 2024 (Pa. Super. 10/28/2025) (non-precedential).
Lancaster County has adopted new fee schedules for filings with the Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans’ Court. “Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans’ Court Bills of Costs; No. 2025-02609” (10/16/2025), 55 Pa.B. 7497 (11/1/2025).
House Bill 18, which makes a number of changes to 20 Pa.C.S. § 5512.2(a.1) relating to the scheduling and conduct of review hearings for guardianships, has passed both houses of the legislature and been signed into law by the governor, becoming the Act of October 27, 2025, No. 39.
The act takes effect in 60 days.
A sale of real property that had been specifically devised was approved when the estate was otherwise without sufficient funds to pay debts and expenses, and the offer made by the devisee was “woefully inadequate” compared to the price under the contract already signed by the executor. The court was not required to hold a hearing on the removal of the executor before approving the sale when the request to remove the executor came in an answer to the petition for approval of the sale and not in a separate petition. Pstrak Estate, 3 Fid.Rep.4th 116 (Luzerne O.C. 2022), aff’d 936 MDA 2022 (Pa. Super. 4/17/2024) (non-precedential).
[DBE Comment: The Superior Court stated that the joinder of the specific devisees of the property was not required because the will included a general power to sell property “without excepting specifically devised property,” but that conclusion seems to violate the principle of construction that a specific provision overrides a general provision. A provision of a will making a specific disposition of a specific property should therefore override a general direction that that executor is able to sell property and that general direction does not expressly override specific gifts of property. It is also not clear what “joinder” means in this context because the opinion of the Orphans’ Court stated that a citation was served on all parties to show cause why the petition to allow the sale should not be granted, and the objecting devisee was in fact a party to the proceeding.]
It was not an abuse of discretion for the Orphans’ Court to deny a petition for counsel fees from the petitioners and guardians of the alleged incapacitated person when there was no evidence presented as to the ability of the estate of the AIP to pay the fees, the requested fees included time spent on disputes between the petitioners over which of them should be the guardian, and the requested fees included time spent on petitioning for the fees. In re: M.A.D., an Alleged Incapacitated Person, 3 Fid.Rep.4th 95 (Berks O.C. 2025), on appeal, 191 MDA 2025 (Pa. Super.).
It was not an abuse of discretion for the Orphans’ Court to deny two post-hearing motions that sought to add documents to the record, and to request a new evaluation of the incapacitated person, when the issues being addressed by the motions were known before the hearing and further delays were not in the best interests of the incapacitated person. Other issues were found to be waived or without merit, and the Superior Court refused to rely on a non-precedential decision issued before May 1, 2019, the effective date of Pa. R.A.P. 126(b) which allows reliance on persuasive non-precedential opinion. In re: Cody Zedak, and Incapacitated Person, 112 WDA 2025 (Pa. Super. 10/23/2025).
Lease signed by agent for trustees as owners of the property was invalid because the power of attorney did not have the notice required by 20 Pa.C.S. § 5601(c) or the acknowledgement of the agent required by 20 Pa.C.S. § 5601(d). The immunity provision of 20 Pa.C.S. § 5608(d) was not relevant because at issue was the validity of an option under a lease and there was no liability being asserted against the agent or the parties dealing the agent. Motee v. Bazzanza, Trustee, 395 EDA 2025 (Pa. Super. 10/15/2025) (non-precedential).
The petitioner alleged that the decedent had entered into a contract with her husband not to change their wills, but the lawyer who was alleged to have written the contract had no record or recollection of preparing the contract, the testimony of the petitioner that the lawyer admitted preparing the contract was not credible, the contract did not appear to have been written by a lawyer, the notary who allegedly took the acknowledgments of the decedent and her husband was not called to testify, and the petitioner produced only a photocopy of the alleged contract, so the petitioner failed to meet her burden of production and burden of persuasion and the alleged contract was not admissible under the “best evidence” rule of Pa. R.E. 1003. MacRae Estate (No. 1), 3 Fid.Rep.4th 123 (Berks O.C. 2023) (decision and order); MacRae Estate (No. 2), 3 Fid.Rep.4th 135 (Berks O.C. 2023) (Pa. R.A.P. 1925 opinion), aff’d, 549 MDA 2023 (Pa. Super. 4/22/2024) (non-precedential).
Lehigh County has published a new schedule of fees for the Register of Wills. “Clerk of Judicial Records—Register of Wills Division Fee Schedule; Case No. 2025-J-0110” (9/18/2025), 55 Pa.B. 7237 (10/18/2025).
The Internal Revenue Service has released Rev. Proc. 2025-32, 2025-44 I.R.B. ____ (10/27/2025), with inflation adjustments for 2026 (sooner that inflation adjustments are usually published), and the significant federal estate tax and trust planning numbers previously published were correct. Those numbers are as follows:
- The annual gift tax exclusion will remain at $19,000 (same as for 2025).
- The annual gift tax exclusion for a non-citizen spouse will be $194,000 (had been $190,000 for 2025).
- The “2 percent” amount for purposes of section 6166 will be $1,940,000 (was $1,900,000).
- The limitation on the special use valuation reduction under section 2032A will be $1,460,000 (was $1,420,000).
- The top (37%) income tax bracket for estates and trusts will begin at $16,000 (was $15,650).
- The alternative minimum tax exemption for estates and trusts will be $31,400 (was $30,700), and the phaseout of the exemption will start at $104,800 (was $102,450).
Not included in the above list is the federal estate tax base applicable exclusion amount (and generation-skipping tax exemption), because it was changed to $15,000,000 for deaths and gifts in 2026 by section 70106 of P.L. 119-21 (the “megabill” formerly known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill”). It had been $13,990,000 for 2025, and will not be adjusted for inflation until 2027.