It was not an abuse of discretion for the Orphans’ Court to dismiss the incapacitated person’s petition to reconsider or modify the original adjudication of incapacity without a hearing when the petition merely alleged that the incapacitated person “no longer … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Testamentary Capacity
Claim of undue influence was properly rejected when Orphans’ Court found that the decedent did not suffer from a weakened intellect and the alleged influencer did not have a confidential relationship with the decedent. Summary judgment on lack of testamentary … Continue reading
Challenges to the validity of a revocable trust must be made by a petition to the Orphans’ Court, and not by an appeal from the probate of the will of which the trust is a beneficiary, and so the appeal … Continue reading
Objectants to the will failed to prove lack of testamentary capacity by clear, strong, and compelling evidence, and the court sustained the validity of the will despite the testimony of a subscribing witness that she believed that the decedent lacked … Continue reading
The decedent’s attorney testified that he had administered a “Mini-Mental Status Exam” to the decedent and that the decedent was “sharp” and “understood what he was doing” when he signed his fourth will providing increasing gifts to his long-time companion, … Continue reading
A person who has been adjudicated incapacitated is presumed to lack testamentary capacity and the burden is on the proponent of the will to provide clear and convincing evidence of testamentary capacity, or at least a lucid interval. Testimony of … Continue reading
Evidence that the decedent ended contacts with friends, stopped speaking to his son, moved to the Poconos, and remarried is not sufficient proof of undue influence by his second wife, lack of testamentary capacity, or fraud in the inducement, and … Continue reading
Probate of 2007 will was upheld based on testimony of lawyer who met with the decedent on several occasions and prepared the will, as well as the lack of any evidence of undue influence, while probate of a 2013 will … Continue reading
A pro se appellant’s statement of issues on appeal which was 32 pages long and a “discursive, argumentative, and incoherent rant” violates R.A.P. 1925(b) and should be considered to waive all issues. The appeal should also be dismissed on its … Continue reading
Forgery is not proved by the testimony of the decedent’s children that the signature on the will does not look like the decedent’s when the decedent’s lawyer and the subscribing witnesses to the will all testify that they saw the … Continue reading