Blog & Resources

I am the executor of my mother’s estate in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. I have sold the real estate, liquidated all the assets and am ready to distribute, but my sister will not give me a release of liability. What can I do?

You are right to be concerned. Prior to making distributions from the estate, you should insist on getting a release of liability. This is typically done informally by using what is broadly referred to as a Family Settlement Agreement.

My Mother transferred her Lehigh County home to me two years ago. She recently died. I am going to sell the house soon, but do I have to pay Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax?

Not in your case. The Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax of 4.5% applies to transfers to children at death and includes all gifts made within one year of the date of death. If the house was transferred properly into your name 2 years ago, it will not be subject to the Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax.

My entire life I have lived in Atlantic County, New Jersey. My parents lived in Atlantic City, and so do I. My father died two years ago and my mother passed away as an Atlantic County resident last week. I was an only child, and everything in my mothers Will was left to me, and I am executor. Do I need to probate her Will or open an Estate? Her only assets were our family home valued at $600,000 and her car.

In New Jersey, there are only few cases where there is no need to probate a Will. The two most common situations are 1) when a person dies with no individually held assets or 2) an individual dies with no assets whatsoever.

I am the co-executor of my Mother’s Delaware County, Pennsylvania estate, along with her attorney. What fee can he charge?

First, if your Mother’s attorney is serving as the executor and will also be providing your mother’s estate legal services in Delaware County, the attorney should not be charging both an executor’s fee and a fee for legal services based solely on a percentage of the estate.

I am a New Jersey resident serving as the Personal Representative of my mother’s Camden County, New Jersey Estate. I hired a Camden County attorney to probate the estate and help me administer the estate, but I cannot get her to return my calls. What can I do?

As the Personal Representative, the Probate Attorney works for you. You hire the Probate Attorney and you can fire the Probate Attorney. Many attorneys fail to recognize that we work in a service industry, client satisfaction is important! If you are not getting the service you expect, you can easily retain a new Probate Attorney and your first attorney must turn over the files to the new attorney.

I am the Executor of a Delaware County, Pennsylvania Estate. The beneficiaries are making unreasonable demands and have hinted at attempting to have me replaced as Executor. Should I be worried about removal?

In Delaware County, removing an Executor or Personal Representative is not typically an easy task especially in a plain vanilla estate administration situation. Petitioning for removal of an Executor requires an in-depth knowledge of Pennsylvania law. In its simplest form, in order to remove an Executor, it must be show by clear and convincing evidence that the interests of the Estate are likely to be jeopardized by the Executor’s continuation in office.

I am the Executor of a Lehigh County, Pennsylvania estate. Should I be worried about the beneficiaries attempting to surcharge me?

As an executor, you have a duty to take possession of, maintain and administer all the real and personal estate of the decedent. In essence, you must preserve and protect the property for distribution to the proper persons within a reasonable time, in the manner a reasonably prudent person would in their own affairs.

My Mother transferred her Delaware County home to me two years ago. She recently died. I am going to sell the house soon, but do I have to pay Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax?

Not in your case. The Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax of 4.5% applies to transfers to children at death and includes all gifts made within one year of the date of death. If the house was transferred properly into your name 2 years ago, it will not be subject to the Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax.

Where will my Will be probated if I own homes in Pennsylvania, New Jersey or Florida?

What is the impact of dividing your time between homes in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida? For probate purposes, a person has one “legal” home – termed their domicile. Domicile is where you have your true, fixed, permanent home and principal establishment, and to which, whenever you leave, you have the intention of returning. The impact of the domicile location is widespread, from taxes to probate; domicile can affect many aspects of an estate plan.

As Executor of an Atlantic County Estate, can I be reimbursed for mileage?

As the executor of an estate, your expenses incurred in handling the estate are reimbursable from the estate assets. Typical examples are filing fees, parking fees, and money that you pay to have the estate assets secured or cleaned. You are also reimbursed for reasonable travel costs that were incurred only because of the estate.