The following article is a combination of materials created for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s Estate Law Institute for 2018. The section on sole use trusts is adapted from the “overview” and “details” texts that are part of the Sole Use Trust...
The five percent discount for inheritance tax paid within three months of death (§ 2142 of the Inheritance and Estate Tax Act, 72 P.S. § 9142) is often a significant benefit, and so care should be taken to make sure...
Most exclusions from the Pennsylvania inheritance tax can be found in section 2111 of the Inheritance and Estate Tax Act, Part III of Article XXI of the Tax Reform Code of 1971, 72 P.S. § 9112. However, there are other...
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...
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...
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...
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...
This article will explain some of the drafting decision reflected in the author’s sample form of combined health care power of attorney and living will (“the form”). Like other articles, the comments below are the opinions of the author, are offered...
[This article is adapted from course materials originally published as “‘Til Debt Do Us Part” as part of the May 2010 Annual Meeting of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.] Insolvent estates seem...
On January 6, 2017, the Supreme Court adopted a new public access policy (“the Policy”) for records of appellate and trial courts in Pennsylvania, which became effective January 6, 2018. The Policy applies to filings in the Orphans’ Courts of...