In Re: Estate of Plance, Pet of: Plance, J.

144 A.3d 92, 636 Pa. 459, 2016 Pa. LEXIS 1782, 2016 WL 4367874

• Court: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Decided: August 16, 2016
• Docket: 114 WAL 2016 (Granted)
• Status: Published

Opinion

ORDER

PER CURIAM.

AND NOW, this 16th day of August, 2016, the Petition for Allowance of Appeal is GRANTED. The issues, rephrased for clarity, are:

(1) When a property owner purports to transfer land to a trust, names himself as trustee, and retains possession of the deed, what is required to deliver the deed and effectuate the conveyance to the trust, and what party bears the burden of proving that the deed was executed and delivered?

(2) If a property owner effectively conveys land to trust for which he also serves as trustee, and he does not record the deed and retains possession of it, how does the recording statute apply to the property owner’s subsequent conveyance of the land, in his individual capacity, to himself and his spouse as tenants by the entireties, when the latter deed is duly recorded and the spouse had no notice of the prior conveyance to the trust, but paid only nominal consideration?

(3) When the Orphans’ Court grants a petition to probate a photocopy of a will, and an opposing party did not respond to the petition or appeal the Orphans’ Court’s order, but raises a claim regarding the will’s revocation as new matter in a responsive pleading during the estate’s administration, is the claim barred by the doctrine of res judicata or collateral estoppel?