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Home My WebLink About12-28-10IN RE: MARCELLA P. SIEMON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, RESTATEMENT OF TRUST CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA ORPHANS' COURT DIVISION No. 21-10-0750 ANSWER OF TRUSTEE TO PETITION OF BENEFICIARY FOR AN ACCOUNTING OF THE TRUST UNDER 20 PA.C.S.A. &7780 Respondent, Edward A. Siemon, III, as Trustee of the Marcella P. Siemon Living Trust by and through his attorneys, Keystone Elder Law, P.C. answers the Petitioners' Petition for an Accounting of the Trust under 20 Pa.C.S.A. §7780, as follows: 1. Admitted. 2. Admitted in part and denied in part. It is admitted that Marcella executed a Restatement of Trust on June 28, 2005. It is denied that the Restatement of Trust amended and restated the trust referred to in Item 1. above, dated January 22, 2008. By way of further answer, The trust agreement dated January 22, 2008 was never funded and was in fact revoked on January 29, 2008. Subsequent thereto, the decedent executed an entirely new and different trust agreement on January 29, 2008 which trust was funded and used by the decedent during her lifetime and continues in force howbeit subject to the amendments embodied in the June 29, 2008 Restatement. 3. Admitted. .-_: Admitted 4 -- ~ ~~,° . . ~ ~ rn ~, , ~~ 5. Admitted. ~~~ N ~~ .. x ~ -.. ~ ~ aj m L3 ~:) 6. Admitted. ~~' o ,p. -, ,-, `-~~" g c-~ ~ ~ V -„ r'i"1 ~ I f. --i ..-.1 7. Admitted in part and denied in part. It is admitted that the Petitioner and Respondent are beneficiaries of the trust, however the statement of beneficial interest in Petitioner's statement is an over simplification and omits a $35,000 gift to a Trust for Animal Care (Article Third A.3.) which gift is to be made prior to the division of the estate between the Petitioner and the Respondent (Article Third A.6.). It is noted that the decedent owned two residential properties; one at 859 Hilltop Road, Lemoyne, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania 17043 and the other at 540 Brentwater Road, Camp Hill, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania 17011. The life estate granted to Edward A. Siemon, III (Article Third A.2.) is in the 540 Brentwater Road property. 8. Admitted. By way of further answer, 20 Pa.C.S.A. §7780.3 requires the trustee to reasonably respond to requests for information related to the trust's administration. 20 Pa.C.S.A. §7780.3 does not require the trustee to provide a full accounting at every request and whim of a beneficiary. 9. Admitted in part and denied in part. It is admitted that Petitioner requested information concerning an inventory of trust assets as of the date of death and a list of debts and expenses of the trust including a list of all expenses paid "within the last six months". It is denied that the petitioner asked for an accounting. By way of further answer, after the information was provided by Respondent, Petitioner's counsel made no effort to contact Respondent's counsel to express any concerns that the information provided was unsatisfactory or deficient or that they were requesting an additional two years of information--as requested in this Petition--but instead filed this Petition. 10. Admitted in part and denied in part. It is admitted that the October 22, 20101etter is attached. It is denied that this letter requested an accounting. 11. Admitted in part and denied in part. It is admitted that drafts of Schedules G, and I of the REV 1500 PA Inheritance Tax Return, which is not due to be filed until January 25, 2011 evidencing the known assets and liabilities of the trust estate. It is denied that this is the only information provided to the Petitioner in the November 15, 2010 letter, as also included were market analysis of the real property as prepared by real estate companies, an assignment of personal property to the trust, and a copy of the decedent's last will and testament which is a pour-over will that is not required to be probated. By way of further answer, with the exception of satisfaction of liabilities and expenses of the administration, the only distributions from the trust have been to the Pet Trust under Article A.3, in order to satisfy demands the Petitioner made for payment of animal care. 12. Admitted. By way of further answer, a full accounting of the expenses is not a reasonable request at this time and outside of the scope of 20 Pa.C.S.A. §7788.3. To provide ongoing information of this nature is an added burden to the trustee's duties and an unnecessary added expense to the administration of the trust. At the time of distribution, a full accounting will be provided to which the Petitioner will have full opportunity to review and object to. 13. Admitted in part and denied in part. It is admitted that a beneficiary is entitled to an accounting prior to distribution. It is denied that the PA Uniform Trust Act requires a trustee to provide a full accounting at any and every request of a beneficiary. By way of further answer, the Petitioner and the Respondent have been in almost daily contact since the decedent's passing on April 25, 2010 and the Petitioner is well aware of the status of the overall administration of the trust. WHEREFORE, the Respondent/Trustee respectfully requests this Honorable Court to dismiss Petitioner's Petition for an Accounting of the Trust under 20 Pa.C.S.A. §7780 NEW MATTER 14. Requiring the trustee to provide an accounting at this time is unnecessary and premature as the even the Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Return is not yet due until January 25, 2011, the trust administration is not complete and the trust is not ready for distribution. By way of further answer, it is anticipated that after the Hilltop Road residence is sold, the trust will be ready for distribution. 15. It is believes and therefore averred that the Petitioner's request for an accounting is her attempt to usurp the authority granted to the trustee in the administration of the trust. The Petitioner was appointed as a co-trustee of the original trust dated January 22, 2008, a position which she had declined. 16. To honor the Petitioner's Petition will in effect place her in the position of being a "trustee without fiduciary duties" as Petitioner will then be able to review and object to the current actions of the trustee and in effectively exert control over the trustee on an on-going basis. 17. To dismiss the Petitioner's Petition is in accordance with the intent of the decedentlGrantor as stated in the Trust Agreement as it was her express intent that upon her death, the Respondent be the sole trustee of the trust. 18. Petitioner will not suffer any harm as a result of a dismissal of her Petition as she will have ample opportunity to review, respond and object to the actions of the trustee at the time of distribution and full account of his actions. 19. Respondent/Trustee's ability to effectively and efficiently administer the trust estate will be significantly harmed and impeded by requiring a partial accounting at this time, and assumedly further accountings at each whim of the Petitioner. Respectfully submitted, Dated: J ~ Z~ ~~~~ KEYSTONE ELDER LAW P.C. Att ey LD~~6057 55 Gettysburg Pike, Suite C-100 Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 (717) 697-3223 IN RE: MARCELLA P. SIEMON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, RESTATEMENT OF TRUST CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA ORPHANS' COURT DIVISION No. 21-10-0750 VERIFICATION I, Edward A. Siemon, III, the Respondent, do hereby verify that the facts set forth above are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information and belief; and further, that I expect to be able to prove same at a hearing held in this matter. I understand that the statements herein are made subject to the penalties of 18 Pa.C.S., §4904 (relatin to unsworn falsification to authorities). 1 ~ ~~, ~ ° ~ -~~ t~ Name -~ Date f ` Edward A. Siemon, III IN RE: MARCELLA P. SIEMON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, RESTATEMENT OF TRUST CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA ORPHANS' COURT DIVISION No. 21-10-0750 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Robert P. Grubb, Esquire, do hereby certify that on the date set forth below, I did serve a true and correct copy of the foregoing Answer upon the following persons at the following addresses indicated below by sending same in the United States Mail, first-class, postage prepaid to: Shaune E. O'Toole, Esquire 403 North Second Street Suite 201 Harrisburg, PA 17101 KEYSTONE ELDER LAW P.C. Rob rt p. bb, squire Att rney I.D. 057 55 Gettysburg Pike, Suite C-100 Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 (717) 697-3223 Attorney for Respondent Date: ~ ~ ~ ~f~ n .~.~ `~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ;~, ~~ ZGf~~ ~ _" ~7 a:~J 0 O ~ -n a ~ ~= ~ ~ _ ~ ~ ~~~ -...r