THE COURTS

ORPHANS' COURT PROCEDURAL RULES COMMITTEE

Proposed Electronic Forms

[35 Pa.B. 3405]

   The Orphans' Court Procedural Rules Committee is publishing seventeen forms in electronic format (''e-forms'') which it proposes to recommend for use before the Orphans' Court Divisions and Registers of Wills of this Commonwealth.

   The Orphans' Court e-forms are intended to promote uniformity and standardize the content of pleadings and forms in use practice across the state without supplanting local forms. The Register's forms vary only slightly from previously approved printed forms. Eventually, the Committee hopes that it will be possible to fill in the forms on-line, and then file them either conventionally or electronically in accordance with local practice.¹

   Under the guidance of the previous Chair of the Committee, the Honorable John M. Cascio of Somerset County, and current Chair, Mary Jane Barrett of Philadelphia, the Committee assembled, reviewed and modified existing county forms to create the current set of proposed statewide forms. Prior to publication, the forms were reviewed by the full Committee, an ad hoc group of attorneys and judges from around the Commonwealth, as well as the Orphans' Court Section of the Pennsylvania Trial Judges Conference.

   The draft statewide e-forms are posted on the website of the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (''AOPC'') at www.aopc.org/index/supctcmtes/orphctrules/eforms.asp from which the forms can be downloaded and copies can be printed. Hard copies of the forms can also be obtained upon request by contacting the Committee.

   The following draft statewide e-forms are submitted for comment:

Forms for Orphans' Court

Petition for Adjudication--Decedent's Estate
Petition for Adjudication--Trust Estate
Petition for Adjudication--Guardian of Estate of Incapacitated Person
Petition for Adjudication--Principal's Estate under Power of Attorney
Charitable Gift Notice
Notice of Claim
Annual Report of Guardian of the Estate
Annual Report of Guardian of the Person

Forms for Register of Wills

Estate Information Sheet
Petition for Grant of Letters
Petition for Probate
Oath of Subscribing Witness
Oath of Non-subscribing Witness
Renunciation
Rule 5.6 Notice
Rule 5.7 Certification of Rule 5.6 Notice
Inventory
Rule 6.12 Status Report

   The Committee welcomes input from attorneys, judges and court administrators as to both the form and substance of the draft e-forms and seeks suggestions as to additional forms which may be suitable for statewide use. All communications in reference to the proposed e-forms should be sent, no later than July 19, 2005, to the following address:

Dean R. Phillips, Chief Counsel
Rebecca M. Darr, Deputy Counsel
Orphans' Court Procedural Rules Committee
5035 Ritter Road, Suite 700
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
 
Or via E-Mail to:
orphanrules@pacourts.us

MARY JANE BARRETT,   
Chair

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 05-1170. Filed for public inspection June 17, 2005, 9:00 a.m.]

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