Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 44, November 2, 2024
(a)
Citation Practice.
(1) When personal jurisdiction is required
and has not previously been obtained or conferred by statute, or when a
citation is otherwise required by statute, the petition shall include a
preliminary decree for the issuance of a citation to those interested parties
for whom a citation is necessary to show cause why the relief requested in the
petition should not be granted.
(2)
The citation to obtain personal jurisdiction and a copy of the petition shall
be served upon each cited party at least 20 days before the date when a
responsive pleading is due, in the same manner as service of original process
under Pa.R.C.P. Nos. 402 through 404, Pa.R.C.P. No. 420, and Pa.R.C.P. Nos. 422
through 424 inclusive. If service cannot be made under the foregoing rules, the
court may order service by publication in accordance with Pa.R.C.P. No. 430.
Service of a citation as original process shall not be permitted by electronic
means, unless agreed to by the respondent.
(3) If the citation is not being issued in
order to obtain personal jurisdiction over an interested party, the petition
and the citation may be served by first-class United States mail, postage
prepaid, at least 20 days before the date when a responsive pleading is
due.
(4) If the citation and
petition are not served at least 20 days before the date when a responsive
pleading is due, the court, upon request, may authorize the reissuance of the
citation.
(5) Once the citation to
obtain personal jurisdiction has been served upon the cited party by original
process in accordance with subparagraph (a)(2), then notice of a rescheduled
return date or any other rescheduled date for filing a responsive pleading or
appearing before the court may be served by first-class United States mail,
postage prepaid, at least 20 days before such rescheduled date.
(6) If an interested party (whether
sui juris or not) is represented by another, the citation and
petition shall be served upon the interested party's representative(s) pursuant
to Rule 4.2.
(7) Proof of service
of the citation shall be filed with the clerk on or before the date when a
responsive pleading is due.
(8)
Each interested party identified in the citation, or such interested party's
representative identified in the citation, may file a responsive pleading in
accordance with these Rules on or before the date provided in the
citation.
(b)
Notice Practice.
(1) In all
cases where personal jurisdiction is not required or has been previously
obtained, or conferred by statute, the petitioner shall, either in advance of
filing or contemporaneously therewith, provide a copy of the petition to the
interested parties identified in the petition. The petition shall have affixed
to its first page a notice to plead that shall be substantially in the
following form:
To : ________
You are hereby notified to file a written response to the
(name of pleading) within twenty (20) days from the date of notice or on or
before the date when the pleading is to be filed, whichever is later, or the
court may deem that you have no objection to the relief requested therein and
may grant such relief without further notice to you.
(2) A certificate of service, listing the
names and addresses of those individuals and entities receiving notice of the
filing of the petition, shall be appended to, or filed contemporaneously with,
the petition.
(3) If an interested
party (whether sui juris or not) is not receiving notice of
the filing of the petition because he or she is represented by another, a copy
of the petition shall be sent in accordance with subparagraph (b)(1) to the
interested party's representative pursuant to Rule 4.2.
(c)
Consents/Statements of No
Objection; Joinders.
No citation or notice to plead is required where all
individuals and/or entities identified in the petition as interested parties
(or any representative thereof) satisfy one of the following:
(1) They are named petitioners in the
petition;
(2) They filed joinders
to the petition; or
(3) They signed
a document, that is attached to the petition as an exhibit, consenting to or
stating that they have no objection to the relief requested in the petition.
Note: Subparagraphs (a) and (b) of Rule
3.5 are derived from former Rule
3.5. The final sentence of
subpara-graph (a)(2) is identical to former Rule
3.7(h)(1); it
merely has been relocated to this section. Subparagraph (c) of this Rule has no
counterpart in former Orphans' Court Rules.
