HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-27-15 C4:b,
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KEEFER WOOD ALLEN& RAHAL, LLPr-
William R. Church, Esq. c i
Attorney ID No. 318955
P.O. Box 11963
Harrisburg, PA 17108-1963
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BEFORE THE REGISTER OF WILLS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYL&?AN i
Estate of Benjamin B. Bower, Deceased
No. 21-15-0082
PETITIONERS' PRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS
PURSUANT TO PA. R. CIV. P. 1028
Petitioners, Dana Bower, Hiliary Bower, and Wesley Bower(collectively, "Petitioners"),
by and through their attorneys, Keefer, Wood, Allen & Rahal, LLP, hereby file the following
Preliminary Objections raising lack of jurisdiction pursuant to Pa. R. Civ. P. 1028(a)(1), and in
support thereof aver as follows:
1. On March 12, 2015, Petitioners commenced these proceedings before the
Cumberland County Register of Wills (the "Register")by filing a Petition for
Citation to Show Cause (the "Petition").
2. On April 13, 2015, Sylvia Bower("Respondent"), by and through her attorney,
Michael A. Scherer, Esquire,timely filed a document entitled "Answer to Petition
for Citation to Show Cause why Letters of Administration should not be issued to
Petitioners and why Production of Will should not be Compelled in Accordance
with 20 Pa.C.S.A. Section 3137" (the "Answer"), in response to a Citation issued
by the Register on March 23, 2015.
3. The caption to the Answer reads as follows:
"IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF,
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
ORPHANS' COURT DIVISION"
4. However, to the best of the undersigned counsel's knowledge, information and
belief, the Register has not certified these proceedings to the Cumberland County
Court of Common Pleas, Orphans' Court Division (the "Court"), nor has
Respondent filed anything to request that the record be certified and transferred to
the Court or that these proceedings be otherwise removed from the jurisdiction of
the Register.
5. Absent the Register's certification of the record to the Court, these proceedings
continue to be properly within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Register, as matters
relating to the probate of a decedent's Last Will and/or the grant of Letters of
Administration or Letters Testamentary, as provided in Pennsylvania's Probate,
Estates and Fiduciaries Code and other applicable law.
6. Accordingly, the Court currently lacks jurisdiction over the subject matter of these
proceedings at this time, and the Petitioners therefore now preliminarily object to
the Answer, for lack of jurisdiction pursuant to Pa. R. Civ. P. 1028(a)(1).
WHEREFORE, Petitioners respectfully request that the Register sustain these
Preliminary Objections, that the statements and averments of fact contained in the filed Answer,
and the Exhibit attached thereto, be stricken from the record, and that the Register order
Respondent to amend the Answer to properly reflect the current jurisdictional posture of these
proceedings, or alternatively, if Respondent should fail to amend the Answer as aforesaid, that
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the Register deem the Answer not to have been timely filed before the return date specified in the
Citation, and thereafter permit Petitioners to file a Petition for Grant of Letters of Administration
for the Estate of Benjamin B. Bower, deceased, as if no appropriate responsive pleading to
Petitioner's earlier Petition to Show Cause had been filed. A proposed Decree is submitted
herewith.
Respectfully submitted,
KEEFER, WOOD, ALLEN& RAHAL, LLP
Dated: A cA 241 §t
, 2015 By:
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William R. Church, Esquire
Attorney I.D.No. 318955
417 Walnut Street, 4 I Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17108-1963
(717) 255-8065
Attorney for Petitioners
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