EXECUTOR DENIED COMMISSIONS AND ASSESSED A SANCTION DUE TO UNEXPLAINED DELAYS IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATE
The executor of the estate at issue was not entitled to a commission charged where his unexplained delay in activity resulted in this relatively simple estate remaining open and where he failed to provide testimony to establish his commission was calculated. The court denied executor a commission and assessed a sanction against him.
Decedent, Shirley Klingel, died on Aug. 8, 2014, when she was 83 years of age. Shirley left the bulk of her estate to her two sons, Terry and John Klingel, and named her daughter, Yvonne Daily, as a contingent beneficiary in her will. John was appointed executor of the estate. Thereafter, John and Terry become involved in disputes over John’s handling of the estate. Here, the court considered Terry’s objections to John’s accounting of the estate and his request for surcharge and sanctions against John. Terry took issue with the executor’s actions, his delay in filing a final accounting and the alleged incompleteness of the account. Unquestionably, there was a delay in activity that resulted in this relatively simple estate still being open, the court observed. Shirley died on Aug. 8, 2014, leaving an estate consisting of a small bank account, personal property, two “older” vehicles and real property specifically devised to John and Terry. “For some unexplained reason,” the estate was not raised until the executor filed for letters of testamentary on March 12, 2015, seven months after Shirley’s death. Terry specifically objected to the commission John charged to the estate given his repeated failure to comply as executor with court orders at Terry’s expense. As executor, John claimed a commission equal to the estate’s counsel fees of $5,891. However, he provided no testimony to establish how the commission was calculated. The court agreed with the objection to the commission claimed, citing John’s delay in raising an estate without explanation. Additionally, he did not file an inheritance tax return or pay such a tax until 19 months after Shirley died, again without explanation. Moreover, John did not promptly move to sell the estate’s real property until ordered to do so by the court. His delays in completing his duties as executor caused Terry to file numerous motions and incur separate legal fees. While John’s actions did not cause waste or loss of the estate other than an interest penalty on the inheritance tax, they prolonged conclusion of the estate and distribution to beneficiaries, the court observed. Moreover, there was no reasonable excuse provided for the delay. As such, the court concluded that no commission should be paid to John as executor. The court also agreed with Terry that a surcharge should be assessed against John for the interest on the late payment of inheritance tax of $117. As to all other issues asserted by Terry, they did not appear to be a loss to the estate, the court reasoned in finding no further grounds for an additional surcharge. However, the court also found that John should be assessed a sanction of $5,000 for contempt of court.
Reference: Digest of Recent Opinions, Pennsylvania Law Weekly, 41 PLW 1051, Tuesday, November 6, 2018, In re: Estate of Klingel, PICS Case No. 18-1305 (C.P. Monroe Oct. 15, 2018)
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