Blog & Resources

Beneficiaries of Chester County estates will often approach us asking our help in keeping an eye on the estate’s executor. This is often the result of the executor not sharing information about the estate with the beneficiary, the executor’s unreasonable delays, or when the executor’s behavior has raised the beneficiary’s concern.

When we are asked about what steps a beneficiary can take to keep an eye on the executor, I will outline various options, such as:

If you are a Chester County resident with a will, following your death your executor will take your death certificate, the original copy of your will, a checkbook and an ID card to the Chester County Register of Wills Office to be sworn in as the executor of your estate.

Being an executor means that this person is a fiduciary with many responsibilities and duties. Selecting the correct person for the job is a vital part of your estate plan.

If an executor sells his mother’s Chester County home, does he have to pay the Pennsylvania probate tax before dividing up the sale proceeds with his siblings?

First, let’s clarify a few things. In Pennsylvania, the “probate tax” is the Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax. Because the estate is being divided up between the mother’s children, that rate is 4.5% on the date of death value of her entire taxable estate. The taxable estate includes the house.

The only constant is change, and that holds especially true for filing fees. Effective immediately, the Chester County Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans’ Court announced that the Commonwealth’s portion of all initial Petition filing fees will increase from $23.50 to $35.50; a 51% increase.

In estate planning, “my estate” can mean different things. Your probate estate includes all your assets that will pass through your will at your death, while your taxable estate includes all your assets that will be taxed at your death. Many assets are included in your taxable estate, but not your probate estate, such as assets in your revocable living trust, your IRAs, assets held jointly with a right of survivorship and all of your payable on death accounts.

The Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax is levied against every penny of a Pennsylvania Probate Estate, so no matter how small the estate the executor will likely have to file a Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Return.

A problem for many clients suffering from illness or the ravages of old age is that they are not physically able to travel to their Chester County estate planning lawyer’s office. Pennsylvania has by statute addressed this problem by allowing lawyers to witness a client’s signature, and then take that to document to a notary and have the document notarized.