Pennsylvania · estate checklist
Settling an estate in Pennsylvania, month by month
Twelve months, one step at a time. Where Pennsylvania sets a number or a deadline, it's here with its source. Nothing here is legal advice.
Not sure which stage you're at?
Then start at "Just starting", months 1 to 3. If you don't know whether there is a will or a trust, that is step one.
Stage 1 · months 1 to 3
Just starting
The first things to gather · Work out what the estate is · Get the authority to act
Month 1 · 5 steps
The first things to gather
Just starting: if that is where you are, your emails start with this month.
Order certified death certificates
Banks, insurers and government offices each usually want their own certified copy, so order several.
Your county or state vital records office lists the price per copy.
Find the will and any trust papers
Look for the original signed will, because the person it names as executor is the one who asks the court for authority to act.
In Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania law sets no deadline for bringing the original will to the Register of Wills, and a will can be offered for probate at any time. If someone is holding the will and won't hand it over, any interested person can ask the Register to order it deposited. A will probated more than a year after the death cannot be used against someone who bought or took a lien on the real estate in the meantime. Source
Make sure Social Security knows
The funeral home usually reports the death, and if the person was getting benefits, Social Security will tell you whether any payment has to be returned.
Keep the home, car and valuables safe
Lock up, keep insurance in force, and don't give away or sell anything yet.
Start one folder for everything
Keep every bill, statement and letter in one place; you'll need them all later.
Month 2 · 4 steps
Work out what the estate is
Check what passes outside the will
Accounts with a named beneficiary and property owned jointly usually go straight to that person, without probate.
Decide whether the estate needs probate
What's left after those accounts decides whether you need the full court process or a simpler one.
In Pennsylvania: Estates under $50,000 can use a simpler process instead of full probate. Source
Claim any life insurance
Each insurer needs a claim form and a certified death certificate; if you aren't sure a policy exists, the NAIC policy locator can search for one.
Think about whether you want a lawyer
A house, a business, debts larger than the assets or a family disagreement are common reasons people get help.
Probate and estate lawyers in Pennsylvania. This is a list, not a recommendation. We don't refer or recommend lawyers.
Month 3 · 4 steps
Get the authority to act
Open probate, if the estate needs it
You apply to the probate court, and its papers (often called letters) let you act for the estate.
In Pennsylvania, a will is probated, and an estate opened, with the Register of Wills in the county where the person who died had their last family or principal home. Disputes and court approvals go to the Orphans' Court Division of that county's Court of Common Pleas. Source
Get a tax ID number for the estate
An estate needs its own number (an EIN) to open a bank account and file its tax return; the IRS issues it free.
Open an estate bank account
Money that comes in for the estate goes here, and estate bills are paid from it, never mixed with your own money.
Tell the credit bureaus
Send Equifax, Experian and TransUnion a copy of the death certificate and ask them to note the death on the person's credit report.
Stage 2 · months 4 to 6
Estate or probate opened
Tell people and take stock · Collect what's owed to the estate · Look after property
Month 4 · 4 steps
Tell people and take stock
Estate or probate opened: if that is where you are, your emails start with this month.
Let creditors know
Many states require a notice to creditors, sometimes in a local newspaper, which starts the time they have to make a claim.
In Pennsylvania, right after the court grants letters (the papers that make you executor or administrator), you must advertise the estate once a week for three weeks in a local newspaper and the county legal journal, asking creditors to come forward. Pennsylvania has no fixed claim deadline, but creditors who are not known to you within one year after the first full advertisement generally cannot hold you personally responsible for property you already handed out. Source
List everything the person owned and owed
Note each account, property and debt with its value around the time of the death.
In Pennsylvania, the executor or administrator must file a sworn inventory of everything the person who died owned in the state with the Register of Wills. It is due by the earlier of the date you file your account or the due date of the Pennsylvania inheritance tax return, which is nine months after the death unless extended. If an heir or other interested person asks in writing, it is due within three months after your appointment or 30 days after the request, whichever is later. Source
Redirect the mail
The Postal Service can forward the person's mail to you, which helps you find accounts and bills you didn't know about.
Cancel what's no longer needed
Phone, streaming, memberships and deliveries can usually be closed with a death certificate.
Month 5 · 3 steps
Collect what's owed to the estate
Collect money owed to the person
Final pay, refunds, deposits and any money from a pension or employer belong to the estate.
Search for unclaimed property
Each state keeps a list of forgotten accounts and refunds; search it under the person's name.
Deal with online accounts
Many services let you close or memorialize an account once you show you're the executor.
Month 6 · 3 steps
Look after property
Decide what happens to the home
Keep it insured and maintained until it's sold or passed on, and check what the will says before you decide.
Transfer or sell vehicles
Your state's motor vehicle office explains what it needs to change the title.
Value anything special
Jewelry, art or collections may need a professional valuation before they're shared out or sold.
Stage 3 · months 7 to 9
Paying debts and filing taxes
Sort out the debts · The person's last income tax return · The estate's own taxes
Month 7 · 3 steps
Sort out the debts
Paying debts and filing taxes: if that is where you are, your emails start with this month.
Check each creditor's claim
Ask for a statement, compare it with your records, and pay only valid debts, from the estate account.
In Pennsylvania, if the estate cannot pay every bill, the executor or administrator pays them in a set order, starting with the costs of running the estate, then the family exemption, then funeral costs and final medical bills. Debts in the same group share equally, and anything left goes to the remaining groups in order. Source
Don't pay the person's debts from your own money
Family members usually aren't responsible for a relative's debts, unless they co-signed or another exception applies.
You can ask debt collectors to stop calling
Send the request in writing; after that, a collector may contact you only to confirm it will stop or to tell you about a specific legal step.
Month 8 · 3 steps
The person's last income tax return
File the final income tax return
The executor files the person's last federal return (Form 1040) for the year they died, by the usual April deadline the following year.
Check the state return too
Most states with an income tax need a final state return as well.
Look for a refund
If tax was withheld during the year, the final return may bring money back to the estate.
Month 9 · 3 steps
The estate's own taxes
File an estate income tax return, if needed
If the estate earns more than $600 in a year (interest, rent, a sale), it files Form 1041; for a calendar-year estate it's due by April 15 of the following year.
Check whether estate tax applies
Only very large estates owe federal estate tax, but some states have their own estate or inheritance tax.
In Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania has an inheritance tax, not a general estate tax, and there is no dollar exemption: the rate depends on who inherits. It is 0% for a surviving spouse, for a parent inheriting from a child aged 21 or younger, and for a child aged 21 or younger inheriting from a parent or stepparent; 4.5% for other children, grandchildren and direct descendants; 12% for brothers and sisters; and 15% for most others. The tax becomes late nine months after the death, and paying within three months earns a 5% discount. Source
Keep tax papers together
Put every return, receipt and letter from a tax office in your folder.
Stage 4 · months 10 to 12
Wrapping up
Get ready to finish · Share out what's left · Close the estate
Month 10 · 2 steps
Get ready to finish
Wrapping up: if that is where you are, your emails start with this month.
Pay the last bills
Set aside enough for final costs such as tax, court fees and closing the accounts.
Write down what came in and went out
A simple account of every payment in and out of the estate is often required, and it protects you if anyone asks.
Month 11 · 2 steps
Share out what's left
Distribute to the beneficiaries
Follow the will (or your state's rules if there isn't one), and ask each person to sign a receipt.
Transfer titles and accounts
Property, vehicles and accounts go into the new owners' names.
Month 12 · 3 steps
Close the estate
Close the estate formally
If the estate went through probate, the court usually needs final papers before it releases you.
In Pennsylvania, you close an estate either by filing a formal account with the Orphans' Court for approval, or informally by sharing a full account with the heirs and getting signed receipts and releases, which can be filed with the clerk. If the estate is still open two years after the death, you must file a status report with the Register of Wills, then once a year until it is finished, and a final one when it is. Source
Close the estate bank account
Once everything is paid and shared out, close it and keep the final statement.
Keep the records
Hold on to the estate's records for at least three years after its last tax return; the IRS explains how long on its record-keeping page.
The estate letter · Pennsylvania
One email a month, with that month's steps
The same checklist, delivered as you go, with Pennsylvania's numbers and deadlines.
- Month 1The first things to gather
- Month 2Work out what the estate is
- Month 3Get the authority to act
- 9 more months