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liquidate securities transferred to them from the estate's
account as payments for their fees.
During the time he had control of the bonds, Lynch sold some
of them and used the proceeds to pay Reardon and himself the fees
they earned pursuant to their August 7, 1979, agreement with the
estate. He also sold securities and used the proceeds to pay the
law firm $95,000--$50,000 for their legal services in the Bossi
litigation and $45,000 for other legal services performed as
general counsel for the estate. A total of $720,761.19 was
disbursed to Lynch and Reardon.
In August 1980, Anita Panepinto (Panepinto), a niece of
Philip Meriano's deceased wife, found a will dated November 17,
1973, and a codicil dated December 2, 1973, that had been
executed by Philip. The will and the codicil named Panepinto and
Elaine Hernardi (Hernardi), another niece of Philip's deceased
wife, as beneficiaries of the entire estate.
On or about August 30, 1980, Panepinto presented the will
and codicil to the Register of Wills in Philadelphia for probate.
On December 9, 1980, Mary Orlando, as administratrix of the
estate, filed a petition with the Orphans' Court Division, Court
of Common Pleas of Philadelphia (the Orphans' Court), seeking
approval of the fees paid by the estate to Lynch and Reardon.
Action on the petition was deferred by the Court until the
accounting to be filed by the estate was audited by the court.
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