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Home My WebLink About03-27-07 MARTSON DEARDORFF WILLIAMS OTTO GILROY & FALLER MARTSON LAW OFFICES WILUAM F. MARTSON JOHN B. FOWLER III DANIEL K. DEARDORFf' JrHK)~SJ. ~LL~S* lvo V. OTTO III HUBERT X. GILROY GEORGE B. FAllERJR.* CARL C. RISCH DAVID A. FITZSIMONS OiJuSTOPHER E. RICE JENNIFER L. SPEARS MICHAEL J. ())WNS SETH Jr. MOSE8EY 10 EAST HIGH STREET CARLISLE. PENNSYLVANIA 17013 JrELEPHONE FACSIMILE IN'ffiRNET (717) 243-3341 (717) 243-1850 www.marrsonlaw.com '8oAlU> CEKI1f1ED CIVIL TRJAl. SPEClAUST March 27,2007 VIA HAND DELIVERY Glenda Famer Strasbaugh Cumberland County Register of Wills Cumberland County Courthouse One Courthouse Square Carlisle, PA 17013 RE: Estate of Florence 1. Gordon No. 2005-00916 Our File No. 12363 o So 1- ::0 =Co :-r:~; ~- .~ ;~!3 ~ --:: E3 q ::D -.-j ~ ~ = ~ ~ ~l::'3 :.:::0 N -.J '"'tJ N N C.l1 Dear Glenda: Enclosed for filing is an Answer to.a Petition for Special for Reliefand Rule to Show Cause issued in the above referenced matter. Thank for your attention to this filing. Very truly yours HXG/srb cc: Mark A. Mateya, Esquire (VIA FACSIMILE (717) 241-3099) Richard L. Engel, Esquire (VIA FACSIMILE (315) 474-6049) Robert Lerman (VIA FACSIMILE (607) 648-6205) Judge J. Wesley Oler (VIA HAND DELIVERY) Enclosure F: IFILESIDA T AFILE\General\Current\12363\ 12363.ROW2 INFORMATION · ADVICE · ADVOCACY SM .. " F:\FILESIDA T AFILEIGenerallCurrentl 123631 12363 .Answer & New Matter Created: 9/20/04 0: 06PM Revised: 3/27/07 10:27AM Hubert X. Gilroy, Esquire MARTSON DEARDORFF WILLIAMS OTTO GILROY & FALLER MARTSON LAW OFFICES J.D. 29943 10 East High Street Carlisle, PA 17013 (717) 243-3341 ESTATE OF FLORENCE J. GORDON, Deceased IN THE ORPHAN'S COURT OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA ORPHAN'S COURT DIVISION NO. 21-2005-0916 ANSWER TO PETITION FOR SPECIAL RELIEF AND RULE TO SHOW CAUSE Fred R. Lerman and Robert R. Lerman, by their counsel Martson Deardorff Williams Otto Gilroy & Faller, sets forth the following in response to the Petition for Special Relief and Rule to Show Cause: 1. Admitted. 2. Admitted. 3. Admitted. 4. Respondents have no information concerning the assets ofthe Estate of Floyd J. Gordon. On that basis, said allegation is denied and proof thereof is demanded. 5. Admitted. 6. Admitted. ~ 0 = c:.::, So ~ 7. Admitted. ~5~ ::r.;;: ~"'B' . I::r:O :;;::0 "-j~-:r ',-rn N 8. Admitted. ...-...:.- -"'1--, -.J . .~cj3~ ~ (") 0 '"'tJ Q-n :17: 9. Admitted. Ii r'.) --j 10. Admitted. en 11. Admitted. 12. Admitted. . . 13. Admitted. 14. Admitted. 15. Admitted. To be specific, the M.A.!. Appraisal was performed by Summit Associates and reported a value of $435,000.00. 16. Admitted as to the allege belief of the Executor. Denied that the Executor's beliefis accurate. 17. Denied. The dispute is not at an impasse. The Lerman's have fulfilled their obligations pursuant to the Order of Court and their obligations under the Partnership Agreement. WHEREFORE, Respondents Fred R. Lerman and Robert R. Lerman request your Honorable Court to dismiss the Petition for Special for Special Relief filed by the Estate of Florence J. Gordon. NEW MATTER 18. The allegations set forth above are incorporated herein by reference thereto. 19. Article 12 ofthe Partnership Agreement, as amended, addresses the transfer of a Partner's interest in the event of death. 20. Article 12.4 ofthe Partnership Agreement states as follows: a. Ifthe surviving Partners and the survivors of the deceased Partner shall be unable to agree upon the fair market value ofthe real property owned by the Partnership, the surviving Partners shall cause an independent appraisal of the property to be performed by an Appraiser with M.A.!. credentials. The appraisal shall be binding and conclusive. '--.., 21. The surviving Partners of the Mandon Partnership, namely Fred R. Lerman and Robert R. Lerman, caused an independent appraisal of the property to be performed by an Appraiser with M.A.I. credentials. As referenced above, said appraisal determined a value of $435,000.00. 22. By virtue of Section 12.4 of the Partnership Agreement, the appraisal performed by Summit Associates is "binding and conclusive". 23. Pursuant to the terms of the Partnership Agreement, the Estate of Florence J. Gordon is bound by the appraisal performed by Summit Associates. I' . , 24. The Estate of Florence J. Gordon has not itself caused an M.A.!. appraisal to be completed. The Estate is making allegations that the M.A.!. appraisal done by Summit Associates is "undervalued" based solely on a "appraiser's review". The "appraiser's review" advanced by the Estate has no consequence with respect to the Partnership Agreement and does not set forth a fair market value ofthe property. Rather, the "appraiser's review" only cherry picks certain items within the Summit Associates appraisal and suggests that a review of those items may require are-evaluation of the appraisal. However, the Estate has NOT obtained a full appraisal ofthe property by an M.A.!. qualified appraiser or otherwise. WHEREFORE, Respondents Fred R. Lerman and Robert R. Lerman request that the Petition for Special relief filed by the Estate of Florence J. Gordon be dismissed and that this Court NOT schedule any hearing for determination of a definitive amount ofthe value ofthe property owned by the Madon Partnership. DATE: March 27,2007 Hubert X. Gilroy, Esqu. e Martson Deardorff Wi iams Otto Gilroy & Faller 10 East High Street Carlisle, P A 17013 (717) 243-3341 .' , . . I, Hubert X. Gilroy, Esquire, counsel for Respondent's Fred R. Lerman and Robert R. Lerman, verify that I was unable to obtain the Respondent's verification in a timely manner and further verify that the facts set forth in the foregoing pleading are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information and belief. I understand that false statements herein are made subject to the penalties of 18 PaCS 4904 relating to unsworn falsification to authorities. DATED: March 27,2007 F,\FILESIDA T AFILE\GeneraI\Current\12363\12363.Verificalion " ' . . CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Hubert X. Gilroy, of Martson Law Offices, hereby certifies that a copy of the foregoing Answer to Petition for Special Relief and New Matter was served this date by depositing same in the Post Office at Carlisle, P A, first class mail, postage prepaid, addressed as follows: Mark A. Mateya Esquire P.O. Box 127 Boiling Springs, P A 17007 \ By Dated: March 27, 2007 F,IFILESIDA T AFILEIGeneral\CurrentI12363\12363.COS MARTSON LAW OFFICES /l Hubert X. Ten East igh Street Carlisle A 17013 (717) 43-3341