The Internal Revenue Service has announced federal rates for the month of June that will be the lowest in the histories of sections 1274 and 7520 of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”). The §7520 rate, which is used to value…
The Orphans’ Court did not have jurisdiction under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3521 to reopen the adjudication of the informal account of the guardian of the estate of a minor merely because of allegations that the investments of the guardian underperformed. In re: Estate of Ryan Wagner, a Minor, 2020 PA Super 112 (5/11/2020).
[9/28/2020 Update: Final regulations have been adopted and a section has been added at the end of this article briefly describing the few differences between the proposed and final regulations.] The Internal Revenue Service has published proposed regulations on the…
Evans Estate Law Resources has been reconfigured to accept credit card (or debit card) payments directly, rather than having to go through PayPal.
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The IRS has updated its “Economic Impact Payment Information Center” FAQ to include the following new Q10:
“Q10. Does someone who has died qualify for the Payment? (added May 6, 2020)
“A10. No. A Payment made to someone who died before receipt of the Payment should be returned to the IRS by following the instructions about repayments. Return the entire Payment unless the Payment was made to joint filers and one spouse had not died before receipt of the Payment, in which case, you only need to return the portion of the Payment made on account of the decedent. This amount will be $1,200 unless adjusted gross income exceeded $150,000.”
There is no other explanation or citation of any authority, and it is not clear why an individual who was alive on 1/1/2020 is not entitled to a credit for the 2020 tax year.
See “Economic Impact Payments for Decedents” for additional information on the payments provided by new IRC added by the CARES Act.
New A41 provides the following instructions for returning payments:
If the payment was a paper check:
If the payment was a paper check and you have cashed it, or if the payment was a direct deposit:
See Q41 for the list of addresses to which checks should be mailed.
[5/6/2020 Update: The IRS has updated its “Economic Impact Payment Information Center” FAQ to include the following new Q10: “Q10. Does someone who has died qualify for the Payment? (added May 6, 2020)”A10. No. A Payment made to someone who died…
The Supreme Court’s order declaring a judicial emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the orders of local courts declaring emergencies in their counties and closing county offices, have halted or drastically slowed the operations of most offices of the…
On Monday, April 20, Governor Wolf signed S.B. 841 into law, making it Act 15 of 2020. Act 15 addresses a number of problems created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the one of most significance to estate and trust practitioners is the new authority for remote notarizations during the pandemic.
New 57 Pa.C.S. § 5731 directs the Department of State to authorize a notary public to conduct notarial acts remotely if the notary gives notice to the department and uses a communication and identity proofing technology designated in the department’s March 25, 2020, notice on the suspension of the requirement of personal appearance.
Section 5731 goes beyond the communications technologies already approved by the department, and allows the use of other technologies if the notary gives notice to the department and the department does not for good cause prohibit the use of the technology within 30 days.
Section 5731 is also not limited to any particular kind of document, so can be used for renunciations, oaths of subscribing witnesses, and other forms of affidavits not covered by previous orders of the department.
Act 15 takes effect immediately, but the provisions for remote notarization expire 60 days after the termination or expiration of the COVID-19 disaster declaration by the Governor.
The Department of State has already updated its web page on “Electronic/Remote Notarization,” and the pages linked to that page, to reflect some of the changes made by Act 15.
Two changes have been made to the continuing legal education (CLE) requirements in Pennsylvania due to the COVID-19 pandemic:
As previously reported, the administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts has a web page (“UJS Coronavirus Information“) that collects all statewide, appellate, and local court orders relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although it is proper to petition a trial court for a stay pending an appeal, a denial of the petition can not be appealed and a petition for a stay must be filed with the appellate court. In re: Passarelli Family Trust, 2020 PA Super 97 (4/16/2020) (appeal of denial of petition quashed pending appeal to the Supreme Court).