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NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
IN RE: ESTATE OF EDWARD L. IRWIN, IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
JR., ALSO KNOWN AS EDWARD L. IRWIN PENNSYLVANIA
APPEAL OF: ROXANNE ROTHBERGER
No. 1125 WDA 2015
Appeal from the Order Entered June 5, 2015
In the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County
Orphans’ Court at No: 2003 OF 2013
BEFORE: OLSON, STABILE, and MUSMANNO, JJ.
CONCURRING MEMORANDUM BY STABILE, J.: FILED NOVEMBER 15, 2016
I fully join the Majority and write solely to express my view that when
a trust “terminates” upon a principal’s death under 20 Pa.C.S.A.
§ 5603(b)(1), it is a reference to the fact that the purpose of the trust has
been fulfilled. This is not the equivalent, however, of saying that a trustee
no longer has any duties upon a principal’s death. Administration of a trust
must be completed, and that includes all attendant duties necessary to
closing out a trust.
To be sure, Section 5603(b)(1) is not per se a termination provision.
Rather, Section 5603(b) only provides authority for an agent acting under a
power of attorney to establish a trust for the benefit of a principal. Section
5603(b)(1) directs how the income and corpus of a trust may be used during
a principal’s life and provides that, upon a principal’s death, any remaining
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balance is to be paid to the principal’s estate. While Section 5603(b)
authorizes the creation of a trust and Section 5603(b)(1) addresses the
disposition of trust assets, both are silent as to trust administration. The
Uniform Trust Act (“UTA”), however, applies to all express trusts. 20
Pa.C.S.A. § 7702. A trust created under Section 5603(b) is an express trust.
The UTA more fully addresses the duties of a trustee during and upon
termination of a trust, including the duty to take reasonable steps to enforce
or defend claims of a trust and to file an account of his or her administration.
See 20 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 7780.1, 7797. The point being, a principal’s death
under Section 5603(b)(1) measures the duration of a trust, but does not
eliminate the obligation of a trustee to wind up and complete the
administration of a trust. A contrary conclusion, as suggested by the
Decedent’s son David—arguably a judgment debtor of the trust—would, in a
sense, create a rudderless ship unable to find its destination port.
Judge Olson joins this concurring memorandum.
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