THE COURTS
WESTMORELAND COUNTY
Orphans' Court Division
[28 Pa.B. 1132]
Order of Court And Now, to-wit this 12th day of February, 1998, it is Hereby Ordered, Adjudged and Decreed that the following changes in the Westmoreland County Orphans' Court Rules are adopted effective March 30, 1998:
1. Rule WO102(d) is adopted.
2. Rule WO117 section (f) is rescinded and new sections (f) through (h) are adopted.
3. Rules WO405 and WO406 are renumbered as WO406 and WO407 respectively.
4. New Rule WO405 is adopted.
By the Court
BERNARD F. SCHERER,
President Judge(Rule WO102 is amended by adding the following subsection.)
Rule WO102.
* * * * * (d) Audit Hearings
A petition setting forth relevant facts in the format established by the court, together with a proposed Decree of Distribution where applicable, shall be presented to the court. When the petition and proposed Decree are given to the Court Administrator, Orphans' Court Division, prior to the audit day, attendance at the audit by counsel or personal representatives will not be required unless there are specific matters to be addressed at the audit.
Revised February 12, 1998; effective March 30, 1998.
(Rule WO117 is amended by deleting current subsection f and adding new subsections f through h)
Rule WO117.
* * * * * (f) Notice
Notice of the filing of the account shall be sent to all interested parties at least 20 days prior to the date set for audit. If the court finds that notice has not been timely given, the audit may be continued to the next audit date.
Cross References: 20 Pa.C.S.A. § 3503; Pennsylvania Orphans' Court Rule 6.3
Explanatory Comment: ''Interested parties'' includes all beneficiaries, heirs and creditors who have not received payment in full, and any other persons who are likely to be affected by the adjudication. It is usually not necessary to notify specific legatees who have received satisfaction in full of their legacies prior to the filing of the account, and creditors who have been paid in full.
(g) Confirmation
All accounts will be confirmed nisi as of course on the last court day which is at least 10 days prior to the date established for audit.
Explanatory Comment: Audits have traditionally been held on Tuesdays. Accounts scheduled for audit on Tuesday will be confirmed nisi on the Friday which is eleven days prior to the audit.
(h) Objections
Objections to an account must be submitted to the court in writing on or before the date and time set for audit. A copy of the objections shall be provided to counsel for the estate, or the personal representative where there is no counsel of record, and to every other party who has entered an appearance who may be affected by the objection. Revised February 12, 1998; effective March 30, 1998.
(Current Rules WO405 AND WO406 are renumbered as WO406 and WO407 respectively. New Rule WO405 is added as follows):
Revised February 12, 1998; effective March 30, 1998
Rule WO405. Petitions for Distribution.
(a) A Petition for Distribution shall contain the caption for the Estate, be addressed to the presiding judge of the Orphans' Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and shall contain information in paragraphs numbered as follows:
(1) The date of death of decedent, whether decedent died testate or intestate, and the city, county and state of domicile (and country if not domiciled in the United States).
(2) The type of letters granted (testamentary or of administration, etc.), date of grant and if with or without bond.
(3) The newspaper and legal journal where letters were advertised, the date of the first complete advertisement, and an averment that this date was more than four months before the filing of the account. Proofs of publication shall be attached as Exhibit ''A.''
(4) Whether within three months after the grant of letters written notice was sent to I) any corporations and associations named as beneficiaries in the will; ii) the Commonwealth or political subdivision having a claim for maintaining the decedent in an institution where death occurred [see §§ 3330 and 3393 of the PEF Code]; and iii) beneficiaries and intestate heirs as required by Rule 5.6 of the Pennsylvania Orphans' Court Rules.
(5) (a) Whether decedent was married and if so, to whom.
(b) Whether the spouse survived, and date of death of the spouse if applicable.
(c) Whether there is an election by the surviving spouse. A copy of any election to take under or against a will shall be attached as an exhibit.
(6) Whether the decedent married and/or children were born to or lawfully adopted by the decedent after the execution of the will or codicil; if so, relevant names and dates.
(7) Whether there is a claim for the family exemption, the amount of the claim, by whom claimed, and whether the same has been set aside. Attach as an exhibit a copy of any claim which has been filed.
(8) Whether the estate is subject to Federal Estate Tax; if so, whether it has been paid and whether a closing letter has been received. Attach as an exhibit a copy of any closing letter received.
(9) Whether the estate is subject to Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax; if so, whether it has been paid and whether a Notice of Inheritance Tax Appraisement has been received. Attach as an exhibit a copy of any Notice received.
(10) Whether the estate is subject to Pennsylvania Estate tax; if so, whether it has been paid and whether an Estate Tax Determination has been received. Attach as an exhibit a copy of any Determination received.
(11) An averment that written notice has been given of the filing of the account and of the time and date for audit to every unpaid creditor who has given written notice of his claim to the petitioner or to the petitioner's attorney of record, together with a list of all unpaid creditors, the amounts of their claims, the category of claim under § 3392 of the PEF Code, and the extent to which their claims are admitted.
(12) Whether a charitable interest is involved; if so, whether notice was given to the Attorney General as required by Rule 5.5 of the Pennsylvania Orphans' Court Rules, and whether a response has been received. Attach as an exhibit a copy of any response.
(13) Whether the decedent was an inmate of a public institution; if so, an averment that a copy of the account, certified by counsel, was filed with the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue in accordance with Rule 6.7 of the Pennsylvania Orphans' Court Rules.
(14) Whether the decedent was a veteran or the child of a veteran entitled to benefits; if so, an averment that a copy of the account, certified by counsel, was filed withthe United States Veterans Administration in accordance with Rule 6.8 of the Pennsylvania Orphans' Court Rules.
(15) Whether the decedent received medical assistance after August 15, 1994; if so, whether the Department of Public Welfare has been given notice in accordance with the provisions of 62 Pa.C.S.A. § 1412.
(16) An averment that all parties, other than creditors, known to have an interest in the estate as unpaid heirs or beneficiaries, were given written notice of the filing of the account and of the time and date for audit at least twenty days prior to the date for audit. If such notice was not given, explain the circumstances in detail.
(17) (a) The names of any parties not sui juris and not represented.
(b) The names of any parties in the military service of the United States.
(c) Any entities (estates, guardianships, etc.) of which the decedent was a fiduciary at the time of death.
(18) Whether there is a partial or entire intestacy. Explain as necessary.
(19) The names and addresses of all persons having any interest as devisees, legatees or heirs, with the names of parents where necessary to show relationship.
(20) A statement of all changes in distribution under the will, resulting from the death of persons named as beneficiaries therein, election to take against the will or otherwise, together with the date of death of any such beneficiary.
(21) Whether any elections to take in kind have been made. Attach as an exhibit any such elections.
(22) An averment that no distribution has been made other than that appearing in the account or in the petition for distribution. Attach as an exhibit receipts for all distributions, or explain why any are omitted.
(23) An averment that all personal representatives are petitioners; or the names of and the circumstances surrounding those who have not joined as petitioners, attaching as an exhibit a copy of any written notice they have been given of the filing of the account and of the audit.
(24) A statement of all changes occurring since the filing of the account, including assets and income received, and disbursements and distributions made. Where there are more than a few items, they may be attached as exhibits rather than listed in the petition.
(25) The net balance and the kind, form, and character of the property to be distributed. Real estate shall be described in an exhibit as a proposed ''Certificate of Award of Real Estate in Distribution'' appropriately captioned and containing the names and addresses of the distributees, the nature of their interests where there is more than one distributee, a full description of the real estate to be distributed, and the value of each parcel to be distributed.
(26) Any other matters requiring adjudication.
(27) A request that a distribution be made by the Court in accordance with the proposed Decree of Distribution, which shall be submitted with the Petition.
(b) The petition shall be signed and verified by the personal representatives, and shall indicate their capacity.
Cross Reference: 20 Pa.C.S.A § 3513; Pennsylvania Orphans' Court Rule 6.9.
Revised February 12, 1998; effective March 30, 1998.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 98-329. Filed for public inspection February 27, 1998, 9:00 a.m.]
No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.
