After a person passes away, it becomes necessary for his or her
estate to be administered. This process is known as "probate."
In certain other states, probate is often an expensive,
time-consuming process that requires court involvement and significant
fees imposed by the state. Fortunately, in Pennsylvania, probate is much
less expensive than in many states. The vast majority of estates in
Pennsylvania do not require any court appearances.
After death occurs, a Will can be filed for probate in the Register
of Wills Office quickly if the executor wishes to do so. If there is no
Will, an administrator is appointed. In either case, the Register
promptly issues documents that enable the executor or administrator to
have the legal right of access to the decedent's bank accounts,
investments and other assets.
The executor/administrator proceeds to gather information about the
assets of the decedent and pay any bills that are due. A Pennsylvania
inheritance tax return must be filed within nine months after the date
of death ( see Inheritance and Estate Taxes ). Partial distributions to
the heirs can be made during the process, for example, while a house is
on the market to be sold.
Assuming that all creditors have been paid, the heirs are entitled to
receive their shares of the estate. An heir who receives a share of the
"residue" of an estate is entitled to receive an accounting from the
executor or administrator, setting forth information about the estate's
assets, income, and expenses. Most estates are concluded with a family
agreement, whereby the residuary heirs accept the accounting.
There has been a great deal of false information spread about the
probate process by purveyors of "revocable living trusts." Many
companies who sell living trust kits try to scare the elderly by
misleading them. Despite the claims of these "salesmen," revocable
living trusts do not help with Medicaid eligibility for nursing home
care, do not save inheritance tax, and do not speed up the process of
settling a person's affairs after death. In Pennsylvania, the probate
fees on small and modest estates are usually less than $1,000, so does
it make sense to pay $2,000 for a living trust kit to "avoid
probate"?
The Pennsylvania Attorney General has brought legal actions against
purveyors of living trusts in recent years because of the
misrepresentations that have been made. Beware of these out-of-town scam
artists! Their usual approach is to rent a hotel conference room for a
day to make their high pressure sales pitches. After they have swooped
into town for a short stay to prey upon the elderly, they do not
maintain any presence in our community afterward and become unavailable
to their victims.
When we serve as the attorneys for an estate, we scrupulously follow
all legal requirements to make certain that the decedent's wishes are
carried out, and that the executor or administrator carries out his or
her fiduciary duties of administering the estate according to the law of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We provide legal assistance in a
thorough yet sensitive manner to family members in a difficult
time.
