In Re: Estate of Plance, Pet of: Plance, J.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
WESTERN DISTRICT

IN RE: ESTATE OF ALFRED E. PLANCE, : No. 114 WAL 2016
JR., DECEASED :
:
: Petition for Allowance of Appeal from
PETITION OF: JOY PLANCE : the Order of the Superior Court

ORDER
PER CURIAM

AND NOW, this 16th day of August, 2016, the Petition for Allowance of Appeal is

GRANTED. The issues, rephrased for clarity, are:

(1) When a property owner purports to transfer land to a trust, names himself
as trustee, and retains possession of the deed, what is required to deliver
the deed and effectuate the conveyance to the trust, and what party bears
the burden of proving that the deed was executed and delivered?

(2) If a property owner effectively conveys land to trust for which he also
serves as trustee, and he does not record the deed and retains
possession of it, how does the recording statute apply to the property
owner’s subsequent conveyance of the land, in his individual capacity, to
himself and his spouse as tenants by the entireties, when the latter deed
is duly recorded and the spouse had no notice of the prior conveyance to
the trust, but paid only nominal consideration?

(3) When the Orphans’ Court grants a petition to probate a photocopy of a
will, and an opposing party did not respond to the petition or appeal the
Orphans’ Court’s order, but raises a claim regarding the will’s revocation
as new matter in a responsive pleading during the estate’s administration,
is the claim barred by the doctrine of res judicata or collateral estoppel?