A failure to give notice to an indispensible party deprives a court of jurisdiction, but the other heirs of the estate were not indispensible parties to an action to remove an administrator of an estate because the other heirs had … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Jurisdiction
The attempt by the beneficiaries to change the situs of a trust which was the subject of litigation was properly disregarded by the Orphans’ Court, even though the trust document specifically allowed the beneficiaries to change the situs, because under … Continue reading
The claims by the beneficiaries of a trust against the trustee and others for fraud and conversion concerned the administration of the trust, and so were all within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Orphans’ Court, which has all of the … Continue reading
An appeal of an order directing emergency distributions from a trust to preserve licenses for seats for the Los Angeles Lakers did not become moot after the trustee made the distributions because the trustee had raised a jurisdictional issue that … Continue reading
The Register of Wills had jurisdiction to probate the will of a decedent who was not a resident of Pennsylvania because the decedent owned real estate in the Register’s county, but a contestant to a will lacks standing when an … Continue reading
A petition to establish that the names on various birth certificates were alternate names of ancestors of the petitioner, which the petitioner alleged was needed for an application for dual Italian and American citizenship, was denied for lack of subject … Continue reading
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, ___ … Continue reading
The imposition of sanctions for contempt is an appealable order, and the Orphans’ Court did not abuse its discretion in holding the beneficiaries of a trust in contempt, and imposing the payment of the trustee’s legal fees as sanctions, when … Continue reading
The Orphans’ Court had jurisdiction to consider the probate of a lost will after letters of administration had been issued to the decedent’s daughter, and even though the Register of Wills had never acted on a petition to probate the … Continue reading
The Orphans’ Court has nonmandatory jurisdiction over an ejectment action when there are “entangled” counterclaims that are within the mandatory jurisdiction of the Orphans’ Court, but the proper remedy is not the dismissal of the ejectment action brought in the … Continue reading