Business Ethics Elizabeth Krempasky, who was 82 years old, owned a house and four certificates of deposit (CDs) at a bank. In her will, Krempasky devised her estate to her niece, Lydia Vrablova Wanamaker. Krempasky died while a patient at a hospital. Wanamaker, who was appointed executrix of the decedent’s estate, could not find the CDs. Upon further inquiry, she discovered that the name of Anna A. Parana, an acquaintance of Krempasky’s, had been added to the CDs on the day of the decedent’s death. Evidence showed that (1) Parana prepared the forms necessary to authorize the bank to add her name to the CDs, (2) the decedent signed the forms on the day of her death sometime before dying at 2:45 P.M., and (3) Parana presented the authorization forms to the bank sometime between 3:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M. on the same day. A transfer of CDs to joint tenancy is not effective until the bank officially makes the transfer on its records, which it did because it did not have notice of Krempasky’s death. Wanamaker, as executrix of the decedent’s estate, filed a petition requesting that the CDs be ordered returned to the decedent’s estate. Is Anna Parana an agent of Elizabeth Krempasky? Did Parana act ethically in this case? Estate of Krempasky, 348 Pa. Super. 128, 501 A.2d 681, Web 1985 Pa. Super. Lexis 10545 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania)
Let's talk about the creation and termination of an agency. How is agency created? How is it terminated? In Problem 29.8, was Anna Parana an agent of Elizabeth Krempasky? Do you think she acted ethically?