Bucks Writs - Summer 2017 - 16

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ORPHANS' COURT RULE CHANGES
- By Dianne C. Magee

W

hen I arrived as a baby lawyer in Bucks County in
the Stone Age, my legal career to date consisted
of one year of practice in New Mexico, where,
conveniently, the state rules of court were modeled after
the federal rules, and local, county rules essentially were
limited to proclamations which constrained the number
of pages for a brief. New Mexico, the 47th state, having
been admitted to the Union in 1912, as opposed to the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which was admitted in
1787, had a seemingly modern court system. Imagine
my surprise and confusion upon being confronted by
courts still using Latin! What in heaven's name was a
Prothonotary (most lay people still don't know this one)
or a praecipe? And why did I have to be admitted to
practice in the County court when I already was admitted
to Pennsylvania? I soon discovered that the reason was
that the practice before the courts varied dramatically,
and it was imperative to read, study and know the local
rules of practice.

The practice before the courts
varied dramatically, and it was
imperative to read, study and
know the local rules of practice.
with a few fits and starts, time stood still, and nothing
happened. Thankfully, at least for the Orphans' Court, the
time seemed to arrive when new Pennsylvania Orphans'
Court Rules went into effect September 1, 2016 to cover
all areas of practice in the Orphans' Court, except for
guardianships and adoptions, and those missing rules are
supposed to be coming this year! The new rules eliminated
local court rules, which had to be re-promulgated, but
only with review and approval by the Supreme Court
Rules Committee. Bucks County did promulgate new local
Orphans' Court rules, which were approved.

T

he new rules have changed the practice before
the Orphans' Court in some fairly dramatic (a
non-sequitur, yes, in this "watching-paint-dry
context") ways. I recommend a thorough reading of the
new rules. In the meantime, here are the highlights of
which you must be aware.

Well over 20 years ago, though, hope arrived when Paul
Kester, Bucks County's first and longest serving court
administrator announced that the Pennsylvania Supreme
Court was embarking upon a novel mission to eliminate
local rules and to usher in an era of essentially statewide
rules and practice. Then, years, indeed, many years, passed,

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Bucks Writs - Summer 2017

Bucks Writs - Summer 2017 - 1
Bucks Writs - Summer 2017 - 2
Bucks Writs - Summer 2017 - 3
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https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Fall2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Summer2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Spring2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Fall2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Summer2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/BucksWritsSpring2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Winter2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Fall2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Summer2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Spring2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Winter2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Fall2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Summer2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Spring2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Winter2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Fall2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Summer2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BucksWrits/Spring2017
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