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HomeMy WebLinkAbout81-00297 , . '. '(""/ TIIOMA! I, MY6~! JAMBS D. rl.OWe~ 1I0~Acn A, JOIIN!ON Jn~~y k, DUrrlH Co ~Oy W610N61\. Jk 0 IPMUNP O. MYI~5 JAMBS Po fl.Own~, J~ 0 MVlP 5, Kn~~nk I.^W OI""CIIS MYRRIl, MYERS, IlLOWRR iii JOHNSON TIIIRO II M^RKIlT ATRIlET3 r. o. DOX tall LP.MOVNIl, PBNN3YI.v^NI^ 17041) , TlI"mONR 717.711I'4840 or r,OIJHUL ./OIlN D, MYD~! 1\01l6/\T I,. MYn~!, J~, Maroh 1, 1984 I WB3T lllOIl 3TR82T . C^RI.ISLIl,PBNNSYLVANIA 11011) TP-I.6rlloNR 711-240-3012 Maureen Hart, Esqulro Assistant A ttorney General Ottloe of' the Attorney General Temple of Justloe Olympia, Washlnllton 98604 Rei Estate of J. Ebbe Jensen Oumberland County Estate No. 21-81-297 Dear Ms. Hartl Ii As per your letter dated February 22, 1984,1 am ~noloslng herewith an Affidavit setting torth as muoh Information as I know /lbout the matter. I am also enoloslng herewith an Affidavit of Mary C, Lewis, Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Oourt of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, pertaining to the doouments whloh are presently In her offloe. " Stated very simply, the Register of Wills Oftloe reQelved a request from a looal attorney to "tile" a Will of a Washington deoedent In the Cumberland County Offloe of the Register at Wl11s. There was numerous telephone oonterenoes with the looal attorney trying to determine ,what basis, It any, there was t? "tile" a foreign wl1l In the Ottloe at thll Register at WllIs of CUmberland Oounty. Aooordlng to my reoolleotlon, there was no statement that the deoedent owned property In Pennsylvania or that It Was neoessary to "probatl1" the WllI of the deoedent In Pennsylvania tor purposes of anolllary administration. The request was simply that the WI11 be "tiled". My ,researoh at that time dlsolosed that there was no basis to "tile" the Will at a foreign deoedent In the Register ot Wills Ottloe, Finally, after numerous req4ests, the Register ot Wl11s did agree: to "tile" the torelgn deoedent's wl11, together with the oaths ot two non-subsorlblng witnesses. A Deoree. was Issued by the Register at, Wills of Oumberland Oounty to the etreot that the WI11 had been "tlledll In the Ottloe 'at the Register ot Wl1Is. Subsequently, by an Aftldavlt dated May 26, 1981, the Register, ot Wl1Is ollrtltled that a "proven wl1l at J. Ebbe Jenslln" was "tiled" In her Ottloe. This Aftldavlt Is Inaooura te to the extont that the, WI1I Is desorlbed as "proven". To the extent. that the Aftldavlt stating that a "proven will" was "tiled" In the Ottloe ot the Register' ot WlIIs of Oumberland Oounty would lead' one to the oonoluslon that suoh a wlll had been "probated", the Att,ldavlt Is misleading. It Is untortunnte that the Register ot Wills OWoe ot Cumberland Oounty permitted the WI11 at Mr, Jensen to be "tiled" beoause I t has orea ted the, l11uslon that the WI11 has, been probated. I want to stress that the WlII has not, In taot, been probated by the Ottloe of the Register of Wills of Oumberland County, ," .. -, j " '. '-., "./ ," .......' ",..,... ''OI\,TH OFI'ERSONAJ, nEPR~~SENTAT1VE ....'l..". COMMONWBALTIi or: PBNNSYLVANIA UI ''-. COUNTY OF CUMBBRLAND Bofore me, tho Realsler for tho Probpte of Wills and srantlna of Lollen of Admlnl~tratlon In Ind for the County of Cumborl~nd, peraonally oamo who"belns duly , do dopoae nn4 sa)' thatl\f of tho last Will and Toslament of"-:' deceased Ilio will dlllsently oomplywjlh the'provlalons of tho law rolallns to Transfer Inherltanoos, will well Ind truly administer tho sooda and ohallols, rlahls 'and orodllsof aald dooeaaed Iccordlng to law, And . ' f !led a ,A,D,,19B1, ,there wastr#6t!Mlf4(llnd late of Snohomish County, Wash. , hlllbarlullcenntJ',)80Jl1llllJWnbr, ,,' --A,O" 19 ,,' .' ,#' ~", .- ] u.. '~ ~I 0 ~ ..J ~ I ..J '"" - co 3: I ffi ,... '"" N ffi ~ , , ,... ~ I-J C\I j , ~ Bo It rememborod lhat on tho '5 t h , ' Proven Wi 11 XW".~~IX~1eJne1lllOl DECREE dny of May J. Ebbs Jensen Snohomish Deoeased, utKitNx *it~~ttfC Wltneu my hand and offlolal aoal the day and year aforo'fl,ctl1 lG *, ~ ~ ,S ~ ~ 1 and subsorlbod before me, "... ''--.. - Resistor ail al , ~ II'l ~ Ii< t1I o ~ l ,a ~ hQ.' /!)?y 'j ( /~ j t:Vh., C'.. vt'~,.<-r,;J/ J1. ') . &i- -'" ; ~ '.~#' ,,~a.. '",-(........ ,: , / , '-' ',-;.,,,, - ".".( c!.' .',1, /' /' , ;:1 y L (/ .~i' IV/I! ,.~. '1-It:!::>-/ :;:/J. 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" [5:::1 ll;!1l:J 50 '13U .' ; ", 21-81 }~n7 OATH OF NON,SUBSCRIBING WITNESS S'!'1\'l'Jn Ol~ Wl1SHIN(l'l'ON ~~w~"'l::-'H+ ~-P6#It&%lHI#lA ,SNOIIOMISIl OOUNTY of OOMBEiFll:A'N9 ) as: Tille, tile ..__:1JJ/t'1lty.,",,-)'.: ?j/t'~}t..Z').ldZ)..,.._.__..w..... day of ~._:...,,~J'S!l.?;t;'.lli\l;Y~.........._,.m...'...- T._..,,,.A.O. 19.B.L, before me, Regleterforthe Probate of Wills f\nq GrillltJng Letters of Admlnlslratlon In and for the coun,tyof :Snohomish., 8tat,e .washincrt:on' ' <;tlt~fOO(.I; In the Seffi'!,.,eft~\-h. of ~~'ll, personally oame"....,_-- "",,~.;f..C!.4i~/c./~'''f.'-,--_/rt;!UZcIf/{~~A!~)._...-_..,..._,..._. ;.... ~h6 being duly , ..."..,J!\'lQ.W.....-.---. aooordlng to law deposed and say that they are well aoqualntedwlth . . lhohandwrltlng of ..........J.~_~~.!;~m JlnN~!nN..!, d~.Cl.~.~.~~/ .."'____..,......m..-..,-.----....'.--.-- wlloae na,me Ie at taohed as n...Je~!:.~t.()r... ,,~. .,',., ...-" to an Instrument of writing purported to bs__..... .. ..... the Last Will al1dTestament of ,.,~_ __, _.'..~T_~'~.__,--<_.,_.. - .' J, EBBE JENSEN, copy of which is attached hereto _.._,,~._...._....._.........................._O'~.."'._...._.~ .,.c.~__ ___....,_..~.._.,.~..__.__~'...- _-- -..- ,~..---~, ~. ..-..~-- .. ; ._;._________..~~__...+~.~._~_n_n_.-~__ lale oJ' ~__E~~~.1?~_~.n,61'l.o..m_i~.l}L_c:,C,\u.l'lty.,.'?L Snol)~!l'i.sh I W~.8h!D9ton___.i deoeased and II1!lttilo sold signature Is true and genuine, and Ihat the said -----...--- ".c,,_,I,!._tp.B.A~._~ENs~!'l, ,..,.,.... ..._' Is now doceased.or-abtlent .._.c.._.._,..-:--._".....,;~- _,_.....,,_~!<LQl:n-..--- and subaorlbedbetore mo, t11Is~. ....u6.t.;;t;&.. .....m~'.~..n .._. d. day 01 Fe.bJ:4nry . . A.D. HlBl , ) . .,,- ) I ,J .tla,,&l,i,ja.~~ . ___._________...... _..,.._ _.--.--.-,'. ~--'l"-,---+.."-H, ....~.----- up_'__'" ,no' ....---* ....-- ,-- I<l\';{ l\NDE1RSON, Gl~rk .qf t:lfilej.tl~ol-e-r- super;! or Court O~,f"~1C~;'Y:.t~~~:'.!~ . c;;" . f~~, ~ .. 6. On May 6, 1981, ~~ll ,Will, dated Deoembor 7, 1978, together with the oaths of non- sUbsorlblng wltnesses,was delivered to the Register of Wills eWOll. The Register of Wl11s , opened a tile (NQ. 21"81-297) for the Will, together with tho oath~ of non-subsorlblng witnesses. The WlIl was not probated. 7. Bubsequently, by Deoree ,dated May 6, 1981, the Register of .wills tiled the "proven will at J. Ebbe Jensen"., This DoorQ& Is only evldenoe that the Will was "flied" and not that the WlIl was probated In Cumberland county, Pennsylvunla, ,. " 8. Under the Probate, ES,tates and Flduolarles Code of Pennsylvania, 20 pa.C.B.A. 00101 !!.!!Su the Register of Wills has thll Jurlsdlotlon to probate wl11s, grant !lItters to personal representatives and other matters, as provided by law, Absent an appeal from probate or from the Issuanoe of letters of administration, the Orphans' Court Divisionis not Initially In'volved In the probate of wllls or the Issuanoe of letters of administration. ,The Orphans' Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County ~oes not, to my knowledge, have any knowledge of this matter. , I 9. Asset forth above, the Will was not' probated bY the Register of Wills of Cumberland County Inasmuo~ as the deoedent was not domlolllld In the Commonwealth at the time of his death. Further, the WlIl was not probated all a foreign wlll beoausethe provisions of Seotlon 31~6 of the Probate Code, 20 ,pa.C.B.A.03136, w,ere not met.SpeolfloallY, If the deoedent's Will had been probated In the Sta,te of Washington and a duly authentloated oopy of the reoord of the probate prooeedlngs In the Btate of Washington subml Hed to the Register of Wl11a, then the WlIl oould have been probated In pennsylvania. As set forth above, there was no petition for probate tiled, no request that the Wlllbe probated a,nd the only requost was that the .will be "tiled" ,In the Cumberland Oounty Register of Wl11s0ft\oe. , 10. Bubseqllently, by Affidavit dated May 26, 1981, Mary O.~ Lewis" by her"Flrst Deputy, Harold M. MoLane, oertlfled that the proven ,will of J, Ebbe .ransen had been tJled In the Otfloe of the Register ot WIII~, on MIlY 6, 1981. The ,Attldavlt attaohed to It a oopy of the will that was "tUeell'. The Affidavit does not oertlfY that the Will was probateq or that letters testamentary were Issuejd pursuant to that probate prooeedlng. The Affidavit, apparently, was Intended only to refleot that the Will at J. Ebbo Jensen was "tiled" In the Cumberland Oounty Register at Wills ottloe. i. /- ' , t' 0', C,f-'''' -;:;,;, 7:.:;:# ~ 'J,j;11~ . 'r co..,. .. . I I, ~~o"1-o05"''itI.'l?' ", . J .1. 4f,l.&e .:4.,......'" . r' .::>"h.~;'';,,,,),, 1.::5"~,(J,{D,;n, f':!l,: c.~",L,)". ~4;!I,'!, r:"" .J, C/,~/,. " ' ,~.,r, ./.,,~~I ~?e' tt:(;Jd' art" SDtUJe/.,'101 ! d;'dl'~ ~~...! Hi/i.~. .. d Me;,,"?_ .,": <I--t;,I., t:' r" ~ )"(;I,w,,? r;.e"~ 11-1'/) '1 d(.)h ~~e~ , i r~""'~lre t:I'17 Q"1C/q// 1~,..y4., 4c;-erorb"'~ 'Im.,..- e J)' Ii> ';, .. ",i/ /VI".to, I" '" J /:' ~ J "" ,/ e;le c/"""'c: ;LA,,:!> "C1ol5 1"1)" ,I- ..dol w;'/I """".I ' ~, ' , , .. ' ,", ~~ ~';"m~"" -r /'1, rAt!mt?hn~r ~14W","'? of, - - " - , , " 'I 0 ;.4t,'.l c1 ''''e~r ~A//I 4// ,my jP57 I .' . 0 , . 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PETITION FOR PRODA TE and GRANT OF LETTERS " ' &101' of J, Bbbe Jenson No. .21-81-297 also known lIS Tal Realller of Willi for Iho ,~ Deceased, County of Cumherland , In the, Social Security No, . ~16"1~~...a.QII Commonwealth of Pennwlvanla T~e petition of Ihe underllaned respeelfully represenll Ihal1, Your polhlonor(I), w, /10 II/aro 18 years ot ue or Qldenm Iho exeoU! Or In Ihe 1811, will o(lhe ~bove deoodonl, dMed December 7 , and oodloll(l) datod , " " , ' _ ~\mcd , 19_ - 'wa'a relevant olronm'lancl!, a,8, ranllnollllen, doa'h 01 mOlllor, "0,) Washington It ~:cande~~~t~~f1~~:I~~I~~I~i:lI:~:rden~~~;(]'~~~~'" t80ttl StTeii:of\'nJ~'g~~Wllh , "'" Sholll'lmhp, WnAhingt,nn : llR2Rn' (1111 IItee', nllmhor and mllnolpalllY) . Docendenl,lhen ,1( .. years ofase, died August 2,9 ,1980 III Shovom~qb. !'J!.!!hiwon, ' ' alloeplsl follows, deoedenl dld'not marrY, will not dlvoroed and did not have a child born or adopted stier elleeullori oOhe will offered for probstel wal notlhe victim of a kllllnS and'was never adjudicated Inoompotenll , Docendent al dealh owned property wllh estlmaled valuel as follow,1 lit domlolled In ,Pa.) All petlonal properlY , If n,ot dOmiCiled, In" Pa,) P, ,emll\al property In, Penllsylvanla It not domlclle~ In Pa,) Personal properlY In County Value ,of real estate In Pennsylvania IItUllted al followsl ' ' $ i $:5,000.00 $ , '$ WHERBFORB, petltloner(s) respectfullY lequest(s) tho probate of the last, will and,codlcll(s) prelented herewith and the aranlof lellors l'AA1'Alnnn1'n"y Uellomontary\ admlnl'tr.,I.n 0.'.0,1 adt1\lnlmallon d,b.n.o,l.a,) theron, II t.~ l~ f 01" $ ~ It/.'HO";' rEH " \AI A. ~-o OATH OF PERSONAL REpRESENTATIVE gg~~TO:~:ALTH OF,P~NNSYLVAN,I~ }ss ' 'fho, petltloner(s) abo,v~.named s\Vear(s) or stnrm(s) thatt~o slalemenls In the toresolna pelltlon ,are \rue ~l1d cnrreotto the best of the knnwledse and belief of lItlonet(.) and thaI as pefsonal represen. ta\lve(s) qf Ihe above deoedent p~tlltoner(s) will well and Iy admlnlsle he el ate OCOI Ins t~ Isw, :.~:~: ,~: ~n'm" .,; '~:~,:\b~{' f " Reglsler I I, IN nEI Will of J. Ebbo Jensen, Deooased IN 'om OFI'ICZ OF '11m 1U!l18l'IUt ai' . IVI L~ I alVU3WUJ\ND COONIY, I'ENNSYINANIA t-O. 88 - 1 (J/-. 'if/ .- ,t).cr '1 mrl~ 00 llIWtIOO' AND l'O.Y this ),to{ duy of 't..)h"~,,'A ,1980, the undorslgnod, \Ul\ll'ster of WI lis of Qrrberlanc\ County, Pennsyl'lJunln, having previously rooelved 'a i>etltlon for Probate and Grantod Letters by arogory F. Ebort heroby dlreots that l\ hearing with respeot to said petition be held In the Offloe of the Register of Wll1s of Currborland County, CUmberland Coulity Courthouso, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on Fo~ruary 14, 1\185, at 0,00 a.m, (prevailing time)" ,; ;1 I lt'ls further dlreoted that attorneys for the petitioner, BrouJls & Gilroy, P.C., provldod noUoo of said hoarlng to Father :'v1lohaol J, nyan of 'St. Iv~ry's Cathollo Q1UI'uh of the Valley, ~bnroe, Washington, Father Joseph F. Petsoq of St. Luke Cathollo Qluroh, Beattie, Washington, o,nnle Carpimtar King, address unknown, whlohsald notloe may be by ordinary mall. The purpose of the hear Ing before the undorslgned Is to determine If there Is .any basis to probate the Will of J, llbbo Jensen, delleased, In Oumberland County, Pennsylvania, pursuaht to the Probato, Estate and FI,duolary Code. Petltlonel' Is advised that upon oOlrpletlon of said hearing that Petitioner wll1 have fifteen (15) days to submit to the undersigned a , brief In support of Its posl tlon that the Will of J, Ebbe Jensen shOUld be aanltted to probate In a.urberland County, Pennsylvania, and shall submit proposed findings of faot and oonoluslons of law within said fifteen (16) , dl'Ys period. ~~, ter of WII,I r' 'J . ~&,' Jr('~ Mary . . Is CDI OrQgory P. Ebert 12808 140th Street S.E. Shohanlsh, WBshlngton 98290 Olrls'topher O. li>uston, Esqul re Broujls & Gilroy, P.C. 4 North Hanover Street tarllolll, Pennsylvania 17013 f/)(i,D~J '" r"'l.ti.. it, l ~,~. ('\P~",.,,<"., -,;;. .).. ,?,o;,-- - C',..t.L ,~~ 'il1l'J ~Q' C't'!.QO..\ r....,..J f.lf'-(IJk. . ,-;),-/" f5" . .?1~ L'r-'. r'. . ~ J. Ebbe Jensend:l.od August 29, 1980, a l:lifelong l'uident of the State of Washington and a resident of Snohomish County, Washington ,at i'lis death. tleoe~ent never resid,ed in Penl1sylvlln:l.a, had no 1&sue, and his wife predl;loeased hi,in. At h18 death, deoe.. dent owned SOO shares of General Public Utilities Corp. and 105 shares of Food Fair, Ino., both of which were incorporated under ,the la,ws of the C~ll1monwealth of Pemlsylvania.The combined value olthe shares was approxil1lately $5,000.00. The grO/HI estate 1& in exoess of $500,0'00.00. The share oertUicatCls were and ~fe POys:!... . oally looate~ in theStat.~ofWashingt(m and were. never physically 1n this Commonwealth. No other assets of the decedent had any connection with Pennsylvania. ;( ,e None of the intestate heirs and none of the beneficiaries ,under the will are residents of or located in Pennsylvania. There are'no taxes due to Pennsylvania aii' It res?lt of the decedent's death, and the;e are no oreditors of the estate looatcld inPenri- , 'sylvania.' There is n04ispute over the ownership of the shares of the Pennsylvania oorporations, and there ,is no allegation that a fiduoiary appointed at the' deceden,t' 8 domioile wi1.1 be unable 'to sell" transferOr otherwise,qbtain the valueC)f the shares of the stook. Ther'e:l.S no. ,need in tl11& oase for the' service, C)f process , , in Pennsylvania by or on the personal representative of Mr. Jensen's estate. ? , ' " It appears that tho writing, which was admitted to progats by the Register.of Wills of Philadelphia County, would not be ad- missible to probate ~n the State of Washington because it lacKs , subscribing witnesses. See R.W.C. 111.12.020. In any event. the writing MS not been admittli\d to probate in the State of! Washington in the five years since 'the decedent's death. , By order dated September 16, 1985, a certified copy of whi~h was submitted at the argument, the Superior Court of Wash- ingcon for Snohomish County has ordered that, if the decree of probate is vacated in thli\se proceedings, the original writing ge returned to it "for determination of validity at the earliest opportun;l.ty." The appellants contend that the Register of Wills laoked jurisdiction under the applicable statutes to admit the will' to probate ,and. in the alternative, that, if jurisdiction exists. it was an abuse of ,discretion to exercise it in this case. The jurisdiction of the Reg;l.ster of Wills to probate the wills of nonresi~ents is set forth in Secdon 3131 of the probate. Estates and Fiduciaries Code &s followSl The will of a. ,decedent domicUed. in the Co~onwealth at the time of his death , shall be probated only before the register of the county ,Where the,decedent had his 3 " property located in Eri'e County, Penn!lylvanU. The fact that the property was, physicau'y 10c,ated il1 ltrie Coun'ty.' coupled wi th the need to pay taxes on it to'Pennsylvania and to administer it, g~ve the 'Register of Erie County Jl.1rhdiotion to probate the will. The fact that the decedent had been A residant for many years and had 'a Pennsylvlini~ attorney draw the will, specifically for the pUr- . pose of disposing of the Pennsylvania property, gave the '~egister the reason to exercise the juri~diction by ad~:I.tting the will to probate. The orphans' Court Divis:l.on sustained tho probate of the will. The instant 'oase is distinguished primarily by the, fact that there is, no property looated in Philadelphia County or any 'other county of the state" which must be a<r!niin:l.stered by a Pennsylvania fidUciary,. ,. Nichols Estate, suopra, 'is the second case on which the proponents rely. In that case, the Registe!;' of Wills of Allegheny Court!:y issued "AncPlary htters ,on the will ,of a Florida decedent. Original letters had be'en issued in Florida 'wIlere ~he decedent' a spouse was awarded an elective share ,of the eatate. The deoedent's esUt:e oWned ;shaua ,ofstoo1<.ln a PennsylvanU corporation. The share oerttficateshad never been in Florida and as a resultt:he rlori4a court had notobta:l.ned in rem jurisdiotion over them. tn ". '; .. , addition, the Florida court had not obtained in personam jurisdio- tion over the person who was claiming ownership of the stock. It II ;/ app~a~s from tho decision that thesharo oortifioatos were phys1M c4,l1y looate'd 1n Pennsylvania fortunsfo!.' It the time of the granting of the letter,. " i' Citing the proposition that shares of stoCK could have more than one situs for purposes of administration, i.e., the domicile of the deoedent, the physical, 100ation of the' oertifioate or the domicile of the oorporation, the coUrt concluded that, where the,domioiliary state of the deoedent's domic:l.1e had no in rem jur- isdiotion over tho shares and no in personam jurisdiotion over the , , 01liml,\1\t to the shares, 1etteu oo~ldbe gr~ted in the state of inoo7:poration to settle a dispute as to the OWrl!!rship. i, " 'The requirement' that there be some property of the dece- dent located in the Commonwealth at the time of his death in order ~or letters to be granted. either original Or ancillary, is manda~ ',tory,t.an~IS Estate, 301, Pat 429, 1'2 Atl. 570 (1930), and may not be waived by the agreement of th~ parties" Wolfe v. LeWisburg Trust & Safe Deposit: Co., 30,5 Pat 583,,' 588 (1931). 'WI! find that there was , in fact, no property of J. Ebbe Jensen looated ,in Pennsylvania which satisfies the ~equirements of, Sections 3131 and ,3151. Absent suo~ propeX'ty, the Register. of Wi11s laoked jurisl11otionto admi~ the' will to proba~e. ,6 , . .' Seotion 3131 gives the Register the disoretio~ to refus8 p1"Qb..te under oircl,llllstances U~e those described in OOl1ll1\ent f,by . . prdvidil\gthat the nonresident'.. will "~y" be probated 1f property is located 1n the county. Assum1ng arguendo that the Jenson estate does have Property 10cated1n Pennsylvania, there are no local ored1toX's of the ,decedent. The ahares of stoc~ 1n pennsylvania corporatic)ns can easily be admin- istered by the personal representative to be appointed 1n'Washington. Indeed, there is no justi~iable bas1s for probating the decedent's writing ,in pennsylvania and subjecting the estate to the expenses of having one travel to Philadelphia and obtain letters. Wash1ngto\,\ is the only state with sigT\ificant oontactsW:Lth. the deoeqent and his property. If Pennsylv~ia were to grant pro- bate, Pet\nsylvan:La probatewoulq ,serve no purpose and 18 notnquired fora oomplete adminif/,tration and dhtribut:Lon of the decedent's , PJ10perty by the state of his domicile. , ! Any decree of distribut:Lon entered by a ;Pennsyl\,an:l.a court , , .' would ,be unenforceable in Washington because none of the property , is located i~ pennsylvania. T~e only p~actioal effect of admitting Mr. Jensen's will to probate in Pennsylvania ~uld be to give BOllle validity to a document whioh cou1q not be probated at the place of 8 " r . v .. " ~ ~~J '~~&i " o~i .~~l , 8:0 Q'h < \, M ,.-I ~~ ~~ !'j ~li Ul.\'ji'-' oS ~~ :l1~um 0'14 p, 0'0 .. @~~~ Ot\ !,'M AM M, ,'t:n ~ Ullll a lIlPl I '.', l~.,i It " il ~'i '6 51 , ~.. .. I :\ "",oIllil" .V,;;.;" .. " .._-_.....j. " --....---.............---.......-......- o,,;,;;.._-,~,.,....,..,.,. "AGllficv'N'f;r;,U'" 1,...'..'..'_..".....,_,.,..,,';. :".. ,.' ",,,,,. 1l1W^I\'l'~II':N'I' UII HIWI':NlIF III'! 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MYI\Kl, ,'^MI\~ n, I'I..,WI'I' 1I0",ACh ^, JOI'U-l!IC"t'! :1I\~llY ~"DUI'I'11l . (,:,11,,01( i;(if.\!lHl:ll,Jll III>MUtll> ",Myn~; ,J^MM I I\Jl t,l1WII I' I .1Il" P^V\l> " \;Ul.UlIl 1.,\\\1 {Jr!'IU" MY1~RS, MYliR~, 1'J.oWlill ~l IOIIl'lSON T1IIKIJ \, MAKKIi1' ,,.rKI\lll'M 1'.0, 1I0K I~~' I,IIMOYNE, l'I\NN~YI.v^NIA 110'1(1 TI\I,I\I'Ilotll: lIHlIlq\n,ln I WI\~1' 111011 ,'\'IlI\I\'f C^IlI,IMt.I\, I'I\NNMYI,VANI^ 1101(1 rl\l,I\I'lIoNf. 111;'l'III-:\On t.ltn'IlJlI\P, IOIIlIIi,h,\'r,",; ~.,III!lil' \.. Myn,';, .1It. Murch I, 1084 (C(Q)fPV Maurccn \lart, Eaqulrc Malslanl A \torncy General Ottlee of the AI tarney , rj eneral 'Pemple of Justlce, Olympia, Washlngtan 98504 ,Itel Eslale of J. Ebbe Jenson cumbcr\lihd Caun\yEstalc Na. 21-81-297 " ,!pear Ms" Hart: AS per yaur letter dated Fcbruary 22, 1984,1 am enoloslng herewith an Affidavit getting forth as much Infarmatlan as I knaw 'abaut the metter. I am also enelaslng herewl\~ an, Affidavit of Mary C. I.ewls, Register ,af Wills and Clerk af the orphansl Court af cumberlandPaun\Y, jlennsylvanla, pertf,llnlng ta the dacuments which are i presently In her oWce. Stilted very simply, ,the Reglsteraf Wills oUlce received a request frail) a !09al attarney ta, "flle"a WI\I af a Washlngtan deeede,nt In the cumberland Caunty oWee at the R~glster ,af WlI1s. 'I'here waS numeraUs telephane ,ea\lferenees with the laeal attarney trylng,ta determine what basis, If any, there was ta 'lfIle" a fare,lgn wll1l\l the oWoe af tl\eReglsterof Wl\Is of oumberland county. Aocardlng ta my reoallectla\l, there was no statllment that Ihe deaedent owned praperty In pennsylvania ar, that It was,,\lecessary ta "probllte" thc W\I1 at the decedent, .Inpennsylvdrtla tor purpasqa af llncl\lary admlnlst,ratlon. 'I'he rcquest"was simply that the Will be It1led". I ':. .' ' My research, at thllt time dlsclased that, there was no basis ta !'flle" ,the WlIl pf . a tarelgn deoedent In th,e Regls'ter af, Wills ortloe., Finally, after numerous requests, , the1\eglsW at WlIls dldllgree ta "file" the torclgn decedent'S w\ll,tagether. with the pathsaf two \lpn-subscribing witneSses. A Deerce was Issued by the Register at WI\I~ at Oumberland Oaun\Ytathe Ilffect that the Will had ,beeJl "flied" In Jhe oWoe at, the Reglsterot WlIls. SUbsequently I by lln Atfldavlt,dated May 20, 1981, the Register of W\IIs oer,tlfled that a "prqven 1'1\11 at J, ~bbe Jensen" ~as"flled" In her Office. 'I'hls Affidavit Is Ina90urllte to the extent' that the WI\I Is desorlbed as "tlravenl'. "1,1 the extent that the AWdovltstatlng that a "~ravenw\ll!! was "filed" In the ottilie af the Register at, Wills at cumberland County wauld le,ad ane to the oancluslon that such ,n w\ll had'beM "prabated", the Affidavit Is misleading. It Is untartuna tc thll t the Reglstllr at Wills ottlce at Oumberland CountY permitted the Will at Mr. Jensen to be IIt11edllbeollUse It hall oreated the\l\uslon th,ilt t~e W\II has been prabated. l'wllnt ta stress that the Wltl has nat, ,In tact. been probated by the omee af the Register at Wills of oumberland CauntY. , d '\