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Who Has Standing?
Justin Hollinger, Esq., is a coauthor of this guide.
Guide to the Conservation and Preservation Easements Act
Co-authored the 2024 edition of this guide.
Conservation Easements in Court: A Review of Easement Violation and Enforcement Litigation in Pennsylvania
A review of Pennsylvania judicial decisions reveals that conservation easement holders and the conservation values they uphold prevail when a dispute leads to litigation. Courts respect the text of...
Seller Take Back Financing
When a seller wants to close a sale of real estate but the buyer is not yet in a position to fully fund the purchase, the parties can close the sale with the seller taking from the buyer a purchase...
Installment Agreement
The seller of real estate may finance the buyer’s purchase of a property. An installment agreement requires the buyer to pay the seller the purchase price in installments over time. Both the buyer ...
Reducing Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax
In Pennsylvania, death triggers a state inheritance tax on the distribution of the deceased person’s assets (the “estate”) to the beneficiaries of the estate. Conservation restrictions in support o...
Beneficiaries and Backup Holders: Providing Third Parties With Rights but Not Responsibilities Regarding Conservation Easements
A grant of conservation easement may provide one or more rights to a party other than the landowner and holder of the easement, in accordance with the needs and wishes of those involved with the ea...
Co-Holding Conservation Easements: Considerations for Good Management and Conservation Outcomes
A conservation easement may be granted to multiple entities. These holders of the easement are then each responsible for upholding the easement’s conservation objectives. The respective roles of th...
Who Has Standing? Conservation Easements in Pennsylvania Courts
Who can assert claims and be heard in Pennsylvania’s courts if a dispute heats up over the management of a conservation easement? WeConservePA guide. 6 pages.
Guide to the Conservation and Preservation Easements Act: Pennsylvania Act 29 of 2001
Conservation organizations can avoid many potential difficulties in conservation easement stewardship by ensuring that their conservation easement documents are drafted to conform with the Conserva...
Making Restricted Gifts: Impacts of Restrictions on Charitable Tax Deductions
Donors of land, cash, or other property may desire to place restrictions on a gift to ensure it is used only for specific purposes. To what extent might such restrictions limit or disallow a charit...
Indemnity Agreements and Liability Insurance: Protection From Claims Brought by Third Parties
An individual or organization’s risk of being held liable for personal injury or property damage may be shifted to another party who agrees to accept the risk and who holds liability insurance or s...
Model Declaration of Public Trust with Commentary
This set of model documents and accompanying commentary helps local governments formally dedicate lands to public purposes, reserve portions for other purposes, and clarify what are and aren’t appr...
Ensuring the Permanence of Parks and Other Public Open Space: Safeguards for Lands Entrusted to Local Government
How can local governments establish clear and appropriate protections for the parks and other public open spaces in their purview? How can citizens defend public lands from inappropriate use or liq...
Legal Considerations in Amending Grants of Conservation Easement
This guide informs easement holders, particularly private land trusts, of legal matters to consider under Pennsylvania law and the Internal Revenue Code when making decisions regarding the amendmen...
Reducing Liability Associated with Public Access
Public access to land for hiking, bird watching, hunting, and other recreational activities raises the possibility of a visitor getting injured and for the owners or managers of the land to then be...
Statutory Protection from Liability Related to Public Access: Pennsylvania Law Supports Opening Land to the Public
Public access to land for recreational use raises concern about the possibility of visitor injuries and the potential for the owners or managers of the land to then be held liable. Several Pennsylv...
Guidelines for Conservation Easement Amendments, Waivers, and Letters of Interpretation
Conservation easements are intended to last—to ensure protection of important resources, no matter people’s whims—through the decades and centuries. However, the world changes and so do understandi...
Release of Liability Form: A Tool to Reduce the Risk of Claims for Personal Injury or Property Loss
A properly designed release of liability form signed by a volunteer or participant in an activity can reduce the risk of claims for personal injury or property loss against the organizing or hostin...
Model Release of Liability Form
The risk of being held responsible for injuries or property damage associated with organizing volunteer, educational, recreational, and other events and activities (or opening up property for the s...
Model Policy for Conservation Easement Amendment
Every easement-holding land trust should have a policy to help guide responsible consideration of potential amendments to grants of conservation easement. WeConservePA produced this one-page Model ...
Gift of a Future Interest in Real Estate: Reserved Life Estates Keep Owners in Control During Their Lifetimes
Landowners can convey a future interest in real property to a conservation organization or government but continue to live on or otherwise enjoy using the property during their lifetimes. If the pr...
Model Declaration of Public Trust for Conservation Easements (with Commentary)
The Model Declaration of Public Trust for Conservation Easements is a tool for local governments to use to help ensure that the conservation easements they acquire are long-lasting and durable no m...
Parks in Perpetuity: The Protections Provided to Parks and Other Public Open Spaces Under Pennsylvania Law
Parks and other public open spaces deliver tremendous benefits to the public and provide a crucial foundation for building, maintaining, and renewing communities. People rely on the permanence of t...
Model Compliance Statement with Commentary
A prospective buyer of eased land may want the owner of the land to provide them a guarantee that the easement holder won’t pursue claims against them for violations that predate their interest. A ...
Estoppel Certificates, Compliance Statements, and Conservation Easements
A prospective buyer of eased land may want the owner of the land to provide them a guarantee that the easement holder won’t pursue claims against them for violations that predate their interest. A ...