How Probate Works in Pennsylvania

1) Probate the will and apply for letters before the Register of Wills of the county where the decedent last lived (letters testamentary for a named executor; letters of administration otherwise). 2) The personal representative takes an oath and, unless excused, files a bond. 3) Immediately after letters are granted, advertise the grant once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation and in the county's designated legal periodical, asking creditors to present claims. 4) Give notice of the estate administration to beneficiaries and heirs (statewide form RW-07). 5) File a verified inventory with the Register by the earlier of the date the account is filed or the inheritance tax return due date (or sooner if a party in interest requests it in writing). 6) Pay debts and inheritance tax, then distribute either at the representative's own risk or after filing an account with the orphans' court division for audit or confirmation.

Two simplified options exist. (1) Petition for settlement of a small estate: if the decedent died domiciled in Pennsylvania owning personal property (not counting real estate or the direct payments allowed under § 3101, but including property claimed as the family exemption) worth no more than $50,000 gross, any interested party may petition the orphans' court division of the county of domicile, which may order distribution without full administration, whether or not letters were issued; owning real estate does not prevent use of this procedure for the personal property. A decree may be revoked within one year for improper distribution. (2) Where letters have been granted and the gross real and personal estate is $50,000 or less, the personal representative may, one year after the first complete advertisement of letters, petition with an annexed account for approval of distribution and discharge without a formal accounting. A family exemption of $3,500 in real or personal property may also be claimed by the surviving spouse (or, if none, children or then parents living in the decedent's household).

Pennsylvania does not set a single claim-filing deadline. Creditors present claims by written notice to the personal representative or the representative's attorney. A representative who distributes at his or her own risk is protected from claims not known within one year after the first complete advertisement of the grant of letters (or before the distribution). The representative may also send a written demand requiring a potential claimant to give notice within 60 days or within that one-year period, whichever is later. For real estate distributed at the representative's risk, a claimant must file written notice of the claim with the clerk within one year after death.

The Register grants letters testamentary to the executor named in the will. Without a named executor, letters of administration go, in order, to residuary beneficiaries, the surviving spouse, heirs, principal creditors and other fit persons. A personal representative must be at least 18; a person charged with voluntary manslaughter or homicide (other than homicide by vehicle) in connection with the death cannot serve, and the Register may find others (other than a named executor) unfit. The Register has discretion to refuse letters of administration to a nonresident of Pennsylvania. A bond is generally required, but not for a named representative who is a Pennsylvania resident, or who is excused from bond by the will, or a nonresident serving with a resident co-representative who keeps custody of the assets; a resident sole heir or the nominee of all adult heirs may also be excused. A court may still order a bond.

Pennsylvania has no general small estate affidavit. Instead, certain assets may be paid directly to family without letters: an employer may pay up to $10,000 in wages or employee benefits; a bank or credit union must pay deposits of up to $20,000 per institution to the spouse, a child, a parent or a sibling (in that order of preference) when a receipted funeral bill or a funeral director's affidavit is presented; a facility may pay up to $10,000 from a medical-assistance patient's care account; an insurer may pay up to $11,000 owed to the estate after 60 days; and the State Treasurer may release unclaimed property of $20,000 or less to the spouse or close relatives on a sworn affidavit if no personal representative has been appointed (or five years have passed since appointment). Real estate cannot pass this way.

Wills are probated, and letters granted to personal representatives, by the Register of Wills of each county (20 Pa.C.S. 901). The Unified Judicial System publishes a county-by-county directory of Orphans' Court clerks with mailing addresses and phone numbers, and the Department of Health notes that wills are among the records held at county courthouses.