Stanley Ott of Mannion Prior. Courtesy photo Stanley Ott of Mannion Prior. Courtesy photo

Stanley Ott, Mannion Prior

Ott served as a Common Pleas Court judge in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania beginning in 1988. In 1994, he became administrative judge of the Orphans' Court Division. In 2016, he assumed senior judge status until his retirement at the end of 2018.

Ott's decisions are highly regarded throughout Pennsylvania's legal community and are often referenced by Orphans' Court practitioners and estate and trust planners. Two hundred of Ott's written opinions have been published in the Fiduciary Reporter, including leading decisions on the rights of alleged incapacitated persons, trustee and executor fees, the mental capacity necessary to execute estate planning documents, and the fiduciary duties of trustees.

Notably, it was Ott's 2004 ruling that allowed the Barnes Foundation to move from Merion to its current home in Philadelphia.