Probate in Pennsylvania: do you need a lawyer, and what it costs

Settling an estate in Pennsylvania

What an executor deals with after the funeral: the will, the court, creditors, tax and closing the estate. Each fact links to the statute it comes from and shows the date we last read it.

Filing the original will

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.

20 Pa.C.S. §§ 3133, 3137Read the statute · legis.state.pa.uschecked Oct 5, 2026

Which court handles probate

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.

20 Pa.C.S. § 3131Read the statute · legis.state.pa.uschecked Oct 5, 2026

Creditors' deadline to make claims

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.

20 Pa.C.S. §§ 3162, 3532, 3383Read the statute text · codes.findlaw.comchecked Oct 5, 2026

Estate inventory

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.

20 Pa.C.S. § 3301; 72 P.S. § 9136Read the statute · legis.state.pa.uschecked Oct 5, 2026

The order estate debts are paid

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.

20 Pa.C.S. § 3392Read the statute · legis.state.pa.uschecked Oct 5, 2026

State estate and inheritance tax

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.

72 P.S. §§ 9116, 9117 (Inheritance and Estate Tax, Article XXI of the Tax Reform Code of 1971)Read the statute · pa.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Closing an estate

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.

20 Pa.C.S. §§ 3501.1, 3503, 3513, 3532(c), 3184; Pa. O.C. Rule 10.6Read the statute · pacodeandbulletin.govchecked Oct 5, 2026