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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-02-03IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA ORPHANS' COURT DIVISION IN RE THE ESTATE of HERBERT L HULL Deceased Late of Camp H~II Borough NO 2OO2 - OO515 ANSWER TO PETITION FOR RULE TO SHOW CAUSE 1 Admitted 2 Admitted m part and den~ed m part It ~s admitted that Petitioner ~s one of the three children of Herbert L Hull It ~s den~ed as stated that Pet~honer ~s entitled to one-third of the residuary estate To the extent that Peht~oner has received payments or property ~n sat~sfacbon of such r~ghts (e~ther ~n whole or ~n part), then ~n the settlement of the Estate, account w~ll have to be taken of such ~tems 3 Admitted ~n part and den~ed ~n part It ~s admitted that probate occurred some seven months after the death of Herbert L Hull It ~s den~ed that the Executor d~d not take steps to pursue the ~ssues ~n resolwng the Estate Executor arranged for the ~nventory of decedent's personal property and continued the lease of the commercial property Further, the Executor contacted h~s father's accountant to assist h~m w~th mowng the ~ssues of estate administration forward 4 Den~ed It ~s spec~hcally den~ed that a written request for the filing of an inventory took place m th~s matter, prior to the December 4, 2002 petition An inventory was filed w~th~n 30 days of the pehbon, as required under the PEF Code, Section 3301 By way of further answer, the commercial property appraisal (which was Pebt~oner's agreed upon respons~b~hty) was not provided to Respondent's counsel pnor to December 20, 2002 5 Den~ed death of Herbert L Hull and all ~tems that were avadable after h~s death were ~nventoned ~tems were present ~n Decedent's home and ~n the various other locations were ~nventoned The Executor ~nventor~ed those ~tems, which were present after the All It ~s averred that some ~tems were not present for ~nventory, and may have been ~n the possession of the Petitioner h~mself 6 Demed as stated It ~s specifically den~ed that there were rare and valuable antique books that were present at the home The Executor ~s aware that there were at some point ~n t~me, 6 or 7 books old books, but they were no longer ~n the house at the t~me the ~nventory was prepared Respondent beheves and therefore avers that Petitioner h~mself may have possession of the same In further a~nswer, there were ~tems of sdver ~n the house prior to the death of Herbert L Hull, but none were present ~n the house at the t~me of ~nventory It ~s reasonable to beheve that Petitioner may have some ~tems, together w~th certain ~tems of china, none of which have s~gnlflcant monetary value, but may have ~ntnns~c value Items (a), (b) and (c) were ~nventoned on page 9 of 9 of the Inventory L~st Item (d) was not ~nventoned and was not a gun owned by the decedent Item (e) and (f) were not hsted on the ~nventory In further answer, were not present at the t~me of ~nventory and ~t ~s believed and therefore averred the same are ~n the possession of the Petitioner Items (g) and (h) are both on the ~nventory on page 11 of 13 of the Inventory L~st and are at the Lake Meade property Item (0 was not on the ~nventory, and was not present at the t~me of the Inventory It ts averred that Petitioner may have ~t ~n h~s possession Items 0) and (k) were both ~nventoned Item (I) was not present at the t~me of ~nventory It ~s alleged that ~t may be ~n the possession of the Petitioner Items (m) through (x) were all present and I~sted on the ~nventory 2 Items (y) and (z) were purchased and owned by Respondent Items (aa) was ~nventor~ed on page 11 of 13 of the ~nventory for the Lake Meade property Items (bb) was not present at the t~me of th,e inventory It ~s alleged that ~t may be ~n the possession of the Petitioner Item (m) through (p), on page 11 of 13 are all at the Lake Meade property (r) appears to be a re-hst~ng of what has a~ready been l~sted as Item A on the Petition 7 Demed In early October 2001 (at h~s father's request) Respondent obtained, on behalf of decedent's chddren, s~xty-e~ght (68) bearer bonds from the safe deposit at M&T Bank Further, no gold bar or any jewelry came ~nto Respondent's possession upon h~s entry ~nto the safe deposit box ~n October 2001, or subsequently, as personal representative of the decedent By way of further.answer, ~t ~s beheved that any jewelry was g~ven to Petitioner by decedent ~n 2000 and that any gold bar was, or ~s, ~n Petitioner's possession and control s~nce 2001 By way of further answer, the bonds have been accounted for ~n the Federal and State tax returns and were not ~n the possession of the decedent at the t~me of h~s death 8 Admitted ~n part and den~ed ~n part It ~s admitted that the bearer bonds were maintained at the safe deposit box prior to their removal on October 2001 It ~s averred that the lease reflects the s~gnatures of the executor and the decedent on the agreement for the safe deposit box Further, the rental contract allows entry by all ch~Idren ~nclud~ng the Petitioner It ~s further den~ed that the corporation was a sham and by way of further answer the corporation was maintained over a per~od of some twenty years for vanous enterpnses 9 Neither admitted nor demed Th~s ~s a conclusion of law and no answer ~s necessary However, to the extent that the court deems ~t ~s necessary, respondent demands proof thereof at trial 3 10 Den~ed as stated There was neither a gold bar nor jewelry found ~n the safe deposit box It ~s averred that there was neither a gold bar, nor jewelry ~n the box at the t~me of decedent's death 1 1 Den~ed It ~s specifically demed that entry was made by the Executor at any t~me after the death of Decedent 12 Admitted It ~s admitted that Lawrence C Hull did appear at M&T Bank to rewew the s~gnature card However, the bank was unable to produce the same It ~s den~ed that respondent entered the box anybme after the death of decedent Den~ed as stated The s~gnature card was not avadable on the ws~t of the 13 respondent 14 15 Neither admitted nor den~ed Specific proof thereof ~s requested at the heanng Den~ed The Executor never received or had the s~gnature card nor attempted ;n anyway to conceal entry Into the box It ~s further demed that there was any entry made by the executor after decedent's death It is admitted, ~n fact, that prior to decedent's death, bearer bonds were removed pursuant to request of decedent It ~s demed that Executor converted anything to h~s own use and ~t ~s specifically den~ed that there was a gold bar or jewelry tn the box at the t~me of removal of the bearer bonds It ~s specifically demed that the Executor ~s do~ng anything except attempbng to carry out the w~shes of the decedent Respondent has h~red Mr Charles F Sulhvan, CPA, and Scott M D~nner, Esquire, to administer the Estate ~n an appropnate manner 16 Demed as stated It ~s demed that the Executor omitted any ~tems that should have been ~ncluded ~n the ~nventory By way of further answer, the tax returns filed by the Estate reflect all the ~tems ~ncluded ~n t~e ~nventory 4 WHEREFORE, the Respondent requests the Honorable Court to allow h~m to carry out the functions as Executor named by his father, the decedent, Herbert L Hull and proceed w~th counsel and accountant to complete the matter on a t~mely basts and to file the necessary papers and an accounting which w~ll be subject to review by all part~/~es Lawrence C Hull 5 IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA ORPHANS' COURT DIVISION IN RE THE ESTATE of HERBERT L HULL Deceased NO 2002 - 00515 Late of Camp Hdl Borough VERIFICATION I, Lawrence C foregoing Answer to knowledge and behef Hull, Executor, hereby venfy that the statements made ~n the Pebt~on are true and correct to the best of my ~nformabon, I understand that false statements hereto are made subject to the penalbes of 18 Pa C S Secbon 4904, relating to unsworn fals~flcabon to authonhes Lawrence C Hull Dated Apnl ~ , 2003. 57217 2 IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA ORPHANS' COURT DIVISION IN RE THE ESTATE of HERBERT L HULL Deceased Late of Camp Hdl Borough NO 2002 - 00515 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE AND NOW, th~s ~-/LJ~) day of Apnl, 2003, I, Lawrence C Hull, hereby cerhfy that I th~s day served a true and correct copy of the Answer to Peht~on for Rule to Show Cause upon the party hsted below wa Umted States Ma,I, postage prepaid, address as follows Thomas E Flower, Esquire 2109 Market Street Camp Hdl, PA 17011 Lawrence C Hull