An alleged incapacitated person moved the Orphans’ Court to reconsider the appointment of her son and daughter-in-law as plenary guardians, and the court granted the motion and scheduling a hearing. The alleged incapacitated person later filed a timely notice of appeal, but the Superior Court held that under Pa.R.A.P. 1701(b)(3) the grant of reconsideration rendered inoperative the notice of appeal, and the appeal was quashed. In re: M.D.A., an Alleged Incapacitated Person, 1142 MDA 2022 (12/4/2023) (non-precedential).
Cumberland County has rescinded all of its local rules and adopted new local rules, including new Orphans’ Court rules, effective January 1, 2024, or thirty days after publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin (which would be January 8, 2024). “Local Rules; Civil Term; 96-1335 CIVIL” (11/22/2023), 53 Pa.B. 7576 (12/9/2023).
Berks County has amended Berks County Orphans’ Court Local Rules 1.9C (depository of the court), 2.7A (time for filing objections to accounts), 7.5A (motions practice), and 14.8B (acknowledgement by guardian of duties) and rescinded Rule 2.12 (small estate petitions). “Amendments to Local Rules; Court of Common Pleas; No. 23-303” (11/9/2023), 53 Pa.B. 7360 (12/2/2023).
A health care worker’s claim for services to the decedent was properly dismissed by summary judgment when the plaintiff admitted that there was no express contract for services and the history of payments by the decedent and the decedent’s agent was insufficient to establish a contract implied in fact. However, a claim for unjust enrichment was not properly dismissed by summary judgment when the plaintiff’s evidence, if believed, was sufficient to show that she provided services to the decedent within the four year statute of limitations, that the decedent accepted those services and had reason to know that the plaintiff expected to be paid for those services, and that the decedent did not pay the plaintiff. Barbara Ross v. Estate of Helen F. Roberts, 393 MDA 2023 (Pa. Super. 9/15/2023) (non-precedential).
The Orphans’ Court Procedural Rules Committee is considering changes to Forms RW-02 (Petition for Grant of Letters) and RW-07 (Notice of Estate Administration). The petition for grant of letters would be revised to clarify that whether the decedent was the victim of a killing or was adjudicated incapacitated should be reported whether those events took place before or after the execution of the will, and to add a checkbox when letters are requested for litigation purposes and there are currently no assets. In addition to some formatting or stylistic changes, the notice of estate administration would be changed to advise the recipient that “you may have a beneficial interest in the estate” without any attempt to describe what that interest might be. “Proposed Rescission and Replacement of Register of Wills Forms RW-02 and RW-07,” 53 Pa.B. 7156 (11/18/2023).
Comments may be submitted to the committee by email (preferred) or mail by January 18, 2024.
The Internal Revenue Service has released Rev. Proc. 2023-34, 2023-48 IRB ___ (11/24/2023), with inflation adjustments for 2023 and, consistent with earlier predictions (with two exceptions), the changes in the most significant federal estate and trust planning numbers will be as follows:
- The federal estate tax base applicable exclusion amount (and generation-skipping tax exemption) will be $13,610,000 (was $12,920,000 for 2023).
- The annual gift tax exclusion will be $18,000 (was $17,000).
- The annual gift tax exclusion for a non-citizen spouse will be $185,000 (was $175,000).
- The “2 percent” amount for purposes of section 6166 will be $1,850,000 (was $1,750,000).
- The limitation on the special use valuation reduction under section 2032A will be $1,390,0001 (was $1,310,000).
- The top (37%) income tax bracket for estates and trusts will begin at $15,200 (was $14,450), and the maximum rate on capital gains will begin at $15,450 (was $14,650).
- The alternative minimum tax exemption for estates and trusts will be $29,900 (was $28,400), and the phaseout of the exemption will start at $99,7002 (was $94,600).
Notes:
The Orphans’ Court has mandatory jurisdiction to enforce its orders and judgments, and a garnishment action filed in the Civil Division to collect a judgment of the Orphans’ Court must be transferred to the Orphans’ Court. Lesko v. Brenning, 304 A.3d 1263, 2023 PA Super 229 (11/7/2023).
In a series of orders issued November 3, 2023, the Supreme Court has (a) adopted Rules of Judicial Administration that provide principles of construction for all procedural and evidentiary rules and (b) amended Pa.R.O.C.P. 1.2 (and other civil and criminal rules) to incorporate the new Rules of Judicial Administration. The combined report of the various rules committees state that the purpose of these changes is to “provide for uniform rules of construction for all procedural and evidentiary bodies of rules.” “In re: Order Amending Rule 1.2 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Orphans’ Court Procedure, No. 966 Supreme Court Rules Docket,” 53 Pa.B. 7151 (11/18/2023); “In re: Order Adopting Rules 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, and 115 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Judicial Administration, No. 600 Judicial Administration 2023,” 53 Pa.B. 7124 (11/18/2023).
The Pennsylvania legislature has passed, and Governor Shapiro has signed into law, a renewed section 2802-E of the Administrative Code of 1929, Act of April 9, 1929, P.L. 177, No. 175, to reimpose the “JCP” temporary surcharges of $10.00 and $11.25 that had expired on July 31, 2023. See, Act of November 1, 2023, No. 22,
The new section appears to be effective immediately (meaning as of the date of enactment, November 1, 2023), and will expire July 31, 2025. The total JCP fees will therefore return to $40.25, which was the same total that had been in force before the previous surcharges had expired.
See “JCP Fee Expired in Part” for additional information on the history of these fees.
A surviving spouse who received erroneous legal advice and failed to elect against the will should not be required to pay legal fees of the executor when she mistakenly files objections to the account of the executor and then withdraws the objections when advised by the court that the objections are not proper because her conduct was not “vexatious.” In re: Estate of William H. Simpson, ___ A.3d ___, 2023 PA Super 221 (10/31/2023).