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Section 2053(a)(2) provides for the deduction from the value
of the gross estate of such amounts for administrative expenses
"as are allowable by the laws of the jurisdiction * * * under
which the estate is being administered". Administrative fees
include attorney's fees. The amount claimed must be actually and
necessarily incurred in the administration of the estate and must
be reasonable. Sec. 20.2053-3, Estate Tax Regs.
Under Pennsylvania law, the Orphans' Court is the Court that
reviews the validity of and the reasonableness of administrative
fees. When the fees of counsel are brought before the Orphans
Court for review, it is a function of the court to decide what is
a reasonable and just compensation under all the circumstances.
Crawford's Estate, 307 Pa. 102, 111, 160 A. 585, 588 (1931).
Factors to be considered are the size of the estate, the novelty
and difficulty of the questions involved, the extent of counsel's
labor on the case and the time the labor required, the
responsibility assumed by counsel and his professional standing.
Warden Estate, 348 Pa. 224, 225, 35 A.2d 297, 298 (1944).
Respondent contends that the attorney's fees that the estate
seeks to deduct for payments made to the Tupitza law firm are
unreasonable.
The Orphans' Court has not been asked to pass upon the
reasonableness of the Tupitza law firm's attorney's fees, and it
falls upon us to make the determination.
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