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Home My WebLink About06-11-09rw Stephanie Kleinfelter, Esquire ~ Attorney LD. No. 89989 .a ~"~ Todd F. Truntz, Esquire ~ ~' Attomey I.D. No. 83302 Z Keefer Wood Allen S Rahal, LLP --- _'~} 210 Walnut Street ~ P.O. Box 11963 Harrisburg, PA 17108-1963 a. _.. Attorneys for Respondents <..^st ..~ IN RE: : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS ESTATE OF ELEANOR HASELHUHN, :CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA A/K/A HELEN ELEANOR HASELHUHN DEVON HASELHUHN, :ORPHANS' COURT DIVISION Petitioner v. . WACHOVIA BANK, N.A., and : No. 1126 Year 2008 GARY E. FRENCH, Esquire, Respondents RESPONDENTS' ANSWER TO PETITION FOR PROPOSED DISTRIBUTION AND OBJECTIONS TO RELEASE AND NOW COME Respondents, Wachovia Bank, N.A., and Gary E. French, Esquire, by and through their attorneys, Keefer Wood Allen & Rahal, LLP, and hereby answer the Petition For Proposed Distribution And Objections To Release as follows: 1. Admitted. 2. Admitted. 3. Admitted. 4. Admitted. G 5. Admitted. 6. Denied as stated. Pursuant to Article Fourth of the Decedent's Will, the trustees named by Decedent are beneficiaries of a "Bypass Gift," consisting of the entire residuary of Decedent's probate estate. The Petitioner and Mary Ann Mohr (hereinafter "Mary Ann") are remainder beneficiaries of the Skip Trust and the Non-,Skip Trust, two equal trusts established under provisions governing disposition of the Bypass Gift. The terminating events for each such trust under Articles Fifth, Sixth and Seventh of the Decedent's Will have all occurred. 7. Admitted. 8. Admitted. 9. Admitted. 10. Denied as stated. Respondents incorporate by reference the responding averments set forth in Paragraph 6 hereof. 11. Denied. At present, Respondents are in the process of identifying and valuing Decedent's probate assets, debts, estate administration expenses, etc., and, therefore, cannot state with certainty the value of the Decedent's probate estate on October 13, 2008 (the Decedent's date of death) or on February 1, 2009. Moreover, the Petitioner has not clearly defined the term "Decedent's Estate," and so the veracity of the averment as stated cannot be determined. 12. Admitted in part; denied in part. It is admitted that Petitioner has contemporaneously filed with the Court a Petition Citing Undue Influence on Joint 2 Property Transfers and Amendments to Annuity Beneficiary Forms. The aforesaid Petition speaks for itself. Respondents are without knowledge or information concerning the Petitioner's current desire for a cash distribution other than what appears in her Petition for Proposed Distribution and Objections to Release,. and the averment contained in Paragraph 12 of the Petition, therefore, is denied. 13. Denied as stated. In response to Petitioner's request for an advance distribution, Respondents advised Petitioner that they would make an "at risk" distribution under 20 Pa. C.S.A. §3532 only upon both the Petitioner and Mary Ann entering into a Family Settlement Agreement providing Respondents with appropriate release, refunding and indemnification protections. The Respondents forwarded the proposed Family Settlement Agreement to the Petitioner and Mary Ann on April 30, 2009. The proposed Family Settlement Agreement speaks for itself. 14. Denied as stated. At this early date, the Respondents have not filed the U.S. Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, the Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Return, the Inventory or a court accounting. The "Estate Tax Return" made available to Petitioner and Mary Ann was clearly marked "Draft," and was provided to the beneficiaries to give information available at the time in order to form the basis for an informed receipt, release and refunding agreement. The Respondents deny they have officially "reported" any party as the rightful owner of joint property identified on the draft returns. By way of further answer, the Respondents have no knowledge that the 3 Decedent intended the joint property to pass to anyone other than the surviving joint owner. 15. Denied as stated. At this early date, the Respondents have not filed the U.S. Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, the Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Return, the Inventory or a court accounting. The "Estate Tax Return" provided to Petitioner and Mary Ann was clearly marked "Draft," and was provided to the beneficiaries to give information available at the time in order to form the basis for an informed receipt, release and refunding agreement. The Respondents deny they have officially "reported" any party as the rightful owner of annuities identified on the draft returns. By way of further answer, the Respondents have no knowledge that the Decedent intended the annuities to pass to anyone other than the beneficiaries designated by the Decedent. 16. Denied. By way of further answer, it is unclear what total administration costs may be in light of the current litigation and attendant legal expense. Accordingly, projections of final distributions to either beneficiary are subject to change and will change as administration costs increase. 17. Denied as stated. By way of further answer, the Petition Citing Undue Influence on Joint Property Transfers and Amendments To Annuity Beneficiary Forms is a legal document and, as such, speaks for itself. 18. Denied: Petitioner's averment set forth in Paragraph 18 of the Petition contains a prayer for relief to this Honorable Court, to which no responsive pleading is required. 4 By way of further answer, the Respondents should not be compelled to make an "at risk" distribution without the benefit of a release, refunding and indemnification agreement or a court approved accounting. Petitioner has refused to execute a standard Family Settlement Agreement containing release, refunding and indemnification protections for the Respondents. Morever, a court approved accounting is premature and cannot be compelled by the Petitioner under 20 Pa. C.S.A. § 3501.1 at this time. Accordingly, Petitioner's prayer for relief should be denied. WHEREFORE, Respondents, Wachovia Bank, N.A. and Gary E. French, Esquire, respectively request this Honorable Court to dismiss the Petition for Proposed Distribution and Objection to Release, and grant to the Respondents such other and further relief as the Court deems appropriate. Respectfully submitted, KEEPER WOOD ALLEN & RAHAL, LLP Dated: June ~, 2009 By:. St hanie K einfelt r, squire I.D. No. 80089 Todd F. Truntz, Esquire I.D. No. 83302 635 N. 12th Street, Suite 400 Lemoyne, PA 17043 (717) 901-7786 or (717) 612-5807 Attorneys for Respondents, Wachovia Bank, N.A. and Gary E. French, Esquire 5 VERIFICATION Subject to the penalties of 18 Pa. C.S.A. §4904, relating to unsworn falsification to authorities, I hereby certify that I am a Trust Officer of Wachovia Bank, N.A., and that I am authorized to execute this Verification, and the facts set forth in the foregoing Answer are true and correct to the best of my knowledge or information and belief. Wachovia Bank, N.A. Date: June g 2009 B ~" ~ ~'X7- Y im .Garrett, Trust Officer VERIFICATION Subject to the penalties of 18 Pa. C.S.A. §4904, relating to unsworn falsification to authorities, I verify the facts set forth in the foregoing document are true and correct to the best of my knowledge or information and belief. Date: June $, 2009 ary E. renc , Esqui e IN RE: : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS ESTATE OF ELEANOR HASELHUHN, :CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA A/K/A HELEN ELEANOR HASELHUHN DEVON HASELHUHN, Petitioner ORPHANS' COURT DIVISION v. WACHOVIA BANK, N.A., and GARY E. FRENCH, Esquire, Respondents No. 1126 Year 2008 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, hereby certified that on the ~~ day of June, 2009, a true and correct copy of the foregoing document was served by first class mail, postage prepaid, as follows: Neil W. Yahn, Esquire James, Smith, Dietterick & Connelly, LLP 134 Sipe Avenue Hummelstown, PA 17036 Dated: June ~~, 2009 Stepha ie Kleinfelter, E uire Keefer Wood Allen & Rahal, LLP Attorneys for Respondents, Wachovia Bank, N.A., and Gary E. French, Esquire