HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-24-05
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
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IN RE: ESTATE OF
ROBERT M. MUMMA,
ORPHANS' COURT DIVISION,
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Deceased
No. 21-86-398
PETITION TO STAY AUDIT PENDING COMPLETION OF DISCOVERY
I. Petitioner is Robert M. Mumma II, pro se, a beneficiary of the Estate of
Robert M. Mumma.
2. Respondent is the Estate of Robert M. Mumma, by and through its
Executrixes and Trustees, Barbara McK. Mumma and Lisa Mumma Morgan.
3. Pursuant to a request by the Estate for an auditor to review the accounting, the
Honorable Judge Oler appointed Taylor Andrews, Esquire, to act as auditor.
4. Petitioner has previously filed for the removal of Taylor Andrews as auditor
and a hearing was held on that motion on II March 2005 before the
Honorable Judge Oler.
5. At that hearing Petitioner argued among other things that any action by the
auditor should be stayed until the completion of discovery in the estate.
6. Over the last nineteen years Petitioner has repeatedly requested discovery in
this case, but has repeatedly been denied access by the Estate to various
discoverable documents.
7. Under the Orphans' Court Rules (local and state), after the audit and report are
completed a party shall be permitted to file exceptions to the auditor's report,
but new objections to the accounting shall be precluded.
8. If the Estate is permitted to continue to refuse Petitioner discovery, then he
could be precluded from raising all objections to the account prior to the audit
and would therefore be foreclosed from ever raising those objections.
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9. Without the benefit of discovery the auditor will be unable to adequately audit
the account and will be unable to review all possible objections to the account.
10. As a residuary trust beneficiary of the Estate of Robert M. Mumma the
Petitioner is entitled to review and inspect the "subject matter of the trust and
the accounts and vouchers and other documents relating to the trust",
including opinions of counsel. See Follansbee v. Gerlach. 22 Fiduc.Rep.2
319,56 Pa.D.&CA'h 483 (2002) and Section 173 of the Restatement (Second)
of Trusts
II. As beneficiary of the estate, Petitioner is entitled to review the work product,
billing records and other items regarding this matter being held by the law
firms of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Martson Deardorff Williams & Otto,
Goldberg Katzman & Shipman, Hadley & Company, Crary Buchanan, Jordan
Fields, Esquire, and any other law or accounting firms retained and paid for
by the Estate.
12. The account filed by the Estate indicates that over the last nineteen years the
Marital Trust has paid Morgan, Lewis & Bockius 1.774 million dollars and
has also paid the firms of Martson, Deardorff, Williams and Otto, Goldberg
Katzman & Shipman and Hadley & Company, among many others.
13. In the last nineteen years the Estate has paid over 3.8 million (3,800,000) in
fees to attorneys and accountants, whose files should all be discoverable by
Petitioner.
14. Since the aforementioned firms were paid from Estate funds rather than by the
Executrixes/Trustees individually, all work product, records and other items
pertaining to such payments are discoverable by the Petitioner or any other
beneficiary. Follansbee Id.
15. In contrast to the Estate's position, Petitioner avers that it is premature to
compel an audit before the completion of discovery in that " documents
sought on discovery, relating to a trust are relevant to the subject matter of an
audit of the trustee's account, and may substantially aid in preparation of
objections to the account." Matter of Estate of Rosenblum, 459 Pa. 201, 328
A.2d 158 (1974).
16. Since Petitioner's due process rights to fully object to the account will be
jeopardized ifhe is denied discovery, he respectfully requests this Court to
stay the audit until completion of discovery.
17. Further, inorder to expedite this matter, the Petitioner requests this Court to
specifically order that the Estate must make all records available for review by
the Petitioner within thirty days or face sanctions in the amount of One
Thousand ($1000) Dollars per day.
WHEREFORE, Petitioner requests this Court to Stay the Audit proceedings pending
the completion of discovery by the Petitioner and to set a time period in which the
records must be made available for review or otherwise face sanctions.
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I, Robert M. Mumma II, hereby certifY that I served the foregoing Motion upon
all counselors of record and upon Attorney Andrews ~y sending copies of said motion to
the following via postage-prepaid, first-class, U.S. Mail:
Ivo V. Otto, III, Esquire
Martson Deardorff Williams & Otto
Ten East High Street
Carlisle, PA 17013
Joseph A. O'Connor, Jr., Esquire
Brady 1. Green, Esquire
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP
1701 Market Street
Philadelphia, P A 19103-2921
Taylor P. Andrews, Esquire
Court-Appointed Auditor
Andrews & Johnson Law Offices
78 West Pomfret Street
Carlisle, P A 17013
Ralph A. Jacobs, Esquire
Ralph A. Jacobs & Associates LLC
215 S. Broad Street, 10th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107
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Date '
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Robert M. Mumma II