In re Estate of Rappaport

26 Pa. D. & C.5th 456, 2012 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 391
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County
DecidedJune 11, 2012
DocketNo. 1994-0547
StatusPublished

This text of 26 Pa. D. & C.5th 456 (In re Estate of Rappaport) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Estate of Rappaport, 26 Pa. D. & C.5th 456, 2012 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 391 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2012).

Opinion

FRITSCH, J.,

The matters presently before the court are a second set of cross-appeals filed by the beneficiaries and the current administrator d.b.n.c.t.a. of the estate of Samuel Rappaport, deceased (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “estate”), and Richard and Lois Basciano, former executors of said estate, following the remand of the case by the Pennsylvania Superior Court. [458]*458These appeals arise from this court’s order, amended adjudication and amended decree of March 2, 2012, issued in response to exceptions filed to this court’s initial adjudication addressing objections to the first and final account and supplemental account of the estate of Samuel Rappaport. We file this opinion pursuant to Pennsylvania rule of appellate procedure 1925(a).

BACKGROUND

On September 6, 1994, Samuel Rappaport died. During his lifetime, Mr. Rappaport owned commercial real estate and operated several businesses throughout the Philadelphia region and in several other states. Upon his death, the multifaceted network of his businesses became part of his estate and was entrusted to his named executors.

In 2002, then executors Richard Basciano and Lois Basciano, nee Palmer (hereinafter sometimes referred to collectively as the “Bascianos”), were removed by this court for self-dealing. Thereafter, the Bascianos filed afirst and final account and a supplemental account covering their administration of the estate. In response to the accounts, Samuel Rappaport’s family, the beneficiaries of the estate, filed objections with this court. The objections alleged several instances of self-dealing by the executors and sought repossession of certain properties sold by the Bascianos on behalf of the estate, a surcharge for the self-dealing, and reimbursement for various charges against the estate.

On August 27, 2010, we issued a lengthy adjudication addressing the objections with an attached decree. [459]*459Thereafter, exceptions were filed by the Bascianos that were rendered moot by the filing of an appeal from our adjudication to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania by the estate of Samuel Rappaport subsequently, the Bascianos also filed an appeal from our adjudication. This court issued an opinion on December 29, 2010. Therein, we advised that we wished to revise our adjudication to address the exceptions, but were precluded from doing so by the then-pending appeals. We further noted our willingness to address the exceptions upon remand from the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Subsequently, the Superior Court remanded the matter to this court. On March 2, 2012, following remand, we filed an amended adjudication and decree in response to the exceptions. On April 3, 2012, the beneficiaries of the estate, the administrators of the estate, and the Bascianos each appealed our amended adjudication and decree.

STATEMENTS OF MATTERS COMPLAINED OF ON APPEAL

Pursuant to our 1925(b) orders dated March 13, 2012, appellants filed their respective statements of matters complained of on appeal.

ISSUES RAISED ON APPEAL BY THE ESTATE

In their April 3,2012 concise statement of issues raised on appeal, the beneficiaries and administrator jointly alleged the following1:

1. The court erred in failing to apply principles of [460]*460res judicata and not finding that all transactions determined to be self-dealing by Judge Lawler in his 2002 adjudication are voidable at the sole option of the estate.
2. The Will did not permit self-dealing without prior court approval and the court erred in not rescinding the self-dealing transactions and imposing surcharge where no court approval was obtained.
3. The court erroneously considered the adequacy of consideration, good faith, lack of damage to the estate, and alleged repayment of loans, as defenses to self-dealing without court approval.
4. The court failed to award the entire amount of legal fees, $1,303,158.87 and costs plus interest incurred by beneficiaries in their successful removal action.
5. The court erred by failing to award 100% of the legal fees and costs incurred in pursuing the surcharge action against the Bascianos.
6. The court erred when it failed to require the B ascianos to reimburse all legal fees they charged to the estate where they did not meet their burden of proving those fees were legitimate, reasonable, and necessary expenses and were not related to their unsuccessful defense of the removal petition.
7. The court erred by failing to issue a surcharge for the unsubstantiated expenses and placing the burden on the estate rather than executors to establish the necessity and reasonableness of such expenses.
[461]*4618. The court erred and committed a capricious disbelief of competent evidence when it failed to surcharge the executor for $500,000 in connection with Hollywood Beach (the $500,000 reduction).
9. The court erred in not surcharging Basciano for the $1,000,000 executor fee he obtained in conjunction with administering this estate.

ISSUES RAISED ON APPEAL BY RICHARD AND LOIS BASCIANO

On April 3, 2012, Richard and Lois Basciano each filed a concise statement of issues raised on appeal. As several alleged errors appear on both Richard and Lois’ concise statements, we present a merged set of alleged errors as follows:2

1. The court erred in sustaining any of the objections and imposing a surcharge on the former executors given that the Bascianos’ actions resulted in the value of the estate increasing markedly throughout their tenure as executors.
2. The court erred in rescinding the SR utility and Dimeling & Schreiber garage transactions because the executor had an implied waiver of self-dealing and was otherwise permitted to sell the properties in repayment of loans that he made to the estate.
3. The beneficiaries consented to the transactions at issue and are thus estopped from challenging said [462]*462transactions, making the court’s imposition of liability erroneous.
4. The court erred when it failed to consider the relationship between the wrongdoing of RRR and Wil Rappaport, the RICO action and the retaliatory conduct of the objectors in belatedly challenging the SR utility and Dimeling & Schreiber garage transactions.
5. The court erred when it added new findings of fact and conclusions of law to its prior 1925(a) opinion to support the proposition that the Beneficiaries were unable to object in a timely fashion because they feared Richard Basciano.
6. The court erred in directing the rescission of the Dimeling & Schreiber garage transaction as said property was not owned by the estate.
7. The court erred in sustaining the objections relating to the Dimeling & Schreiber garage and Hollywood Beach garage transactions as said properties were not owned by the estate.
8. The court erred in including Lois Basciano within its award rescinding the Dimeling & Schreiber garage • transaction.
9.

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Bluebook (online)
26 Pa. D. & C.5th 456, 2012 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 391, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-estate-of-rappaport-pactcomplbucks-2012.