Pennsylvania Probate Guide

“You can’t take it with you,” goes the old saying. So how does your property actually pass to your heirs when you die? One way is through probate — a term many people have heard but few understand. This guide explains what probate means and how the process works in Pennsylvania.

Not Everything Goes Through Probate

Probate is only one of several ways ownership passes to someone else after you die. Depending on how your assets are titled, they may pass automatically, without any probate at all:

Jointly owned assets (with rights of survivorship) pass automatically to the surviving owner
Retirement accounts and life insurance pass to whomever you’ve named as beneficiary
Payable-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts pass directly to the named beneficiary
Assets titled in a trust pass according to the trust’s terms

Pennsylvania law also allows certain small amounts to be collected without opening a full probate estate — including bank or care-account deposits of $10,000 or less, wages or employee benefits of $5,000 or less, and life insurance payable to an estate of $11,000 or less.

But if you die owning property in your own name alone — property that can’t pass by any of the methods above — someone will likely need to open a probate estate to transfer that ownership.

How the Probate Process Works

Probate is the process by which individually owned assets get re-titled to the people entitled to receive them. In most cases, it also involves settling debts and paying taxes.

If the deceased left a valid will, the person named as executor appears at the local Register of Wills office to open the estate by filing the necessary documents and paying any required fees. The executor then receives “short certificates” — official one-page proof that they’re authorized to act on the estate’s behalf.

From there, the executor:

Collects the estate’s assets
Pays outstanding bills and taxes
Takes whatever other steps are needed to properly administer the estate

This process typically takes six to eighteen months. Once complete, the executor accounts for the estate’s assets, income, and expenses, and petitions the county’s Orphans’ Court to approve that account and authorize distribution to beneficiaries (or, alternatively, closes the estate through an informal accounting and a written settlement agreement among the beneficiaries).

What Happens Without a Will?

When someone dies without a will, the Register of Wills appoints a family member, beneficiary, or other appropriate party as “administrator” of the estate. The administrator handles the estate the same way an executor would, but instead of distributing assets according to a will, they must distribute them according to Pennsylvania’s intestacy statute — the default rules for who inherits when there’s no valid will.

How Long Does Probate Take — and How Complicated Is It?

Probate can be a relatively simple process, such as when an estate contains only a few bank accounts. In other cases, it can become a lengthy, drawn-out process lasting years — particularly if real estate or a business needs to be sold or wound down, environmental issues need to be addressed, or family disputes such as a will contest need to be resolved.

Whether simple or complicated, the executor or administrator is legally responsible for knowing the requirements of Pennsylvania law, meeting deadlines, and administering the estate properly. For that reason, most executors and administrators choose to hire legal counsel to guide them through the process.

How Sechler Law Firm Can Help