A one sentence Order by the Pennsylvania Supreme court denied former judge Wilson Bucher’s request to appeal a Superior Court validation of his son’s Thomas W. Bucher’s bequest of his estate to the Lancaster Public Library.
The matter had been under litigation for over three years with the Library sustaining significant legal expenses.
Yet the matter is not yet settled since nonagenarian Judge Bucher has now filed another suit based upon an alleged “oral agreement.” Unless the new suit is dismissed as ‘frivolous’, litigation could continue for another two or three years…at considerable additional litigation cost to the Public Library.
On August 8th, Superior Court denied the request of Wilson Bucher for re-argument or reconsideration of the decision dated June 6th that awarded the proceeds from the Thomas W. Bucher Estate to the Lancaster Public Library.
Upon retirement as a supervisor after 22 years of service in the Lancaster County Office of Probation and Parole, Thomas W. Bucher, 59, took his life on or about July 20, 2008. He was the eldest of three children of the late Christine Bucher and the Honorable Wilson Bucher.
Thomas was a bachelor without children. Five years before his death he decided to bequeath his estate to the Lancaster Public Library (Duke Street.)
Thomas’ brother-in-law, attorney Steven R. Blair, with the consent of the aging retired Judge Bucher, brought a petition before the Court asking that Thomas’ will be set aside on the grounds that Thomas was suffering from an “insane delusion.” This was despite the fact that the will was in effect for over five years and that Thomas was gainfully and successfully employed during the entire duration.
Thomas was never diagnosed or treated for mental illness during his entire life.
The Library is represented by Bob Hallinger, Esquire, of Appel & Yost LLP. Library board member Karen Haley Field is the estate’s court appointed executor. A representative of the state attorney general’s office has monitored the litigation.
They should be paying for every single legal bill! Shameful.
This case makes no sense– in so many ways; on so many levels. For starters, who leaves his or her entire fortune (albeit relatively modest) to a public library? Libraries, as we know them, are antiquated in this day-and-age. I see why the library is fighting this so hard– their very existence is at stake.
Why the family is fighting so hard, is another matter. Clearly this is something more to this than money. A lot more. Because even money doesn’t explain their apparent desperation. For starters, though it’s a good chunk of change for a struggling and nearly-defunct small-scale public institution, it is not a huge chunk of change for a family that lives relatively comfortable and possesses no debt. So they must be battling for something far greater than cash– and the library’s legal team needs to figure out what that is.
EDITOR: Well over a thousand individuals visit the downtown Lancaster Public Library every day. Libraries today provide a multitude of services andn programs beyond lending out books.