Estate Planning & Probate
Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania
Lebovitz & Lebovitz, P.A. prepares wills, revocable living trusts, and the companion documents that make an estate plan function under Pennsylvania law. The goal is not a binder of signatures. The goal is a structure that carries out the client’s intent without delay, family conflict, or avoidable court involvement. Stephen H. Lebovitz has prepared estate planning documents for Western Pennsylvania families for more than three decades.
Most estate plan failures are coordination failures. A will says one thing. The deed says another. A beneficiary designation was never updated after a divorce. The intent is usually clear. The structure is what breaks. A properly prepared Pennsylvania estate plan aligns the will, the trust if one is appropriate, the powers of attorney, the health care directive, and the title to assets so that each document does what it was drafted to do.
A will controls only what it can reach. Joint accounts, beneficiary designations, and jointly titled real estate pass outside the will entirely — regardless of what the will says.
The most common estate planning mistake is assuming the will controls everything. It does not. Assets titled in joint tenancy pass to the survivor. Retirement accounts and life insurance go to the named beneficiary. If those designations are outdated or inconsistent with the will, the result is not what the client intended. Call 412-351-4422 to review what you have.
What a Pennsylvania Will Does — and Does Not — Control
A will is a legal instrument that directs the distribution of a decedent’s probate estate. The probate estate consists of assets titled solely in the decedent’s name with no designated beneficiary. That is a narrower category than most people assume. A jointly held bank account passes to the surviving joint owner by operation of law. A retirement account passes to the named beneficiary. Life insurance proceeds go to the designated beneficiary. Real estate held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship transfers to the survivor. None of those assets are controlled by the will, regardless of what the will says about them.
What the will does control: assets in the decedent’s name alone, accounts with no beneficiary designation or with the estate named as beneficiary, and real estate held as tenants in common. For many Pennsylvania families, the will is the centerpiece of the estate plan because the probate estate is substantial. For others — particularly those with significant retirement assets or jointly held real estate — the will is one piece of a larger structure that must be coordinated with beneficiary designations and title. Our article on estate planning documents in Pennsylvania describes how the will fits with the other foundational documents in a complete plan.
Requirements for a Valid Pennsylvania Will
Under the Pennsylvania Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries Code (20 Pa. C.S. § 2502), a valid Pennsylvania will must be in writing and signed by the testator. Pennsylvania does not require witness signatures for a typewritten will signed by a testator of sound mind and legal age — a notable distinction from many other states. However, a will that is not witnessed cannot be self-proving, which means it may require additional proof of execution at probate. Two disinterested witnesses are advisable to avoid that complication. Holographic wills — entirely handwritten and signed by the testator — are valid in Pennsylvania without witnesses, but they are also the most commonly contested form because of questions about authenticity and capacity.
A will may be revised at any time while the testator has legal capacity, either by a formal amendment called a codicil or by executing an entirely new will that revokes the prior one. A will that has not been reviewed in ten or more years is frequently outdated: beneficiaries may have predeceased, family circumstances may have changed, and the assets the will was designed to distribute may have shifted substantially. An outdated will is better than no will, but it may not reflect what the client actually wants. Pennsylvania does not automatically revoke a prior will upon divorce, though it does revoke any provisions in favor of a former spouse. That default rule is worth understanding before relying on an existing document.
Revocable Living Trusts: When the Structure Adds Value
A revocable living trust is a legal arrangement in which the grantor transfers assets to a trust during life, retains full control as trustee, and designates a successor trustee to manage or distribute those assets at incapacity or death. Assets held in a properly funded revocable trust pass outside of probate entirely. That is the primary practical advantage: the successor trustee can act immediately upon the grantor’s incapacity or death without waiting for court appointment or letters testamentary. For a family with real estate in multiple states, a revocable trust avoids the need for ancillary probate proceedings in each state where property is held — a significant administrative and cost advantage.
A revocable trust is not automatically better than a will-based plan. It is a different structure, and its value depends on the client’s assets, family situation, and objectives. A trust that is never funded — one where assets remain titled in the grantor’s name rather than the trust — provides none of the probate-avoidance benefit. Funding the trust correctly, and maintaining that funding as assets change over time, is as important as drafting the instrument. Clients with straightforward assets, a single state of residence, and no continuity or privacy concerns may be well served by a will-based plan. Clients with multiple properties, blended families, business interests, or significant concerns about incapacity management often benefit from the trust structure. The right answer depends on the facts. For clients where a business interest intersects with estate planning, coordinated planning is addressed on our business succession and estate planning page.
Health Care Documents: The Plan for Incapacity
A complete Pennsylvania estate plan addresses two distinct scenarios: what happens at death, and what happens during incapacity. The will and the trust address the first. The durable financial power of attorney, the health care power of attorney, and the living will address the second. A health care power of attorney designates a person to make medical decisions if the principal cannot. A living will — also called an advance health care directive — states the principal’s wishes for end-of-life care, including whether life-sustaining treatment should be continued if recovery is not expected. Without these documents, medical decisions default to a statutory hierarchy of family members who may disagree, or to a court-appointed guardian.
Pennsylvania’s health care power of attorney and living will are governed by the Health Care Agents and Representatives Act (20 Pa. C.S. §§ 5421 et seq.). The statute sets out the execution requirements and the scope of authority a health care agent may exercise. A document that does not meet those requirements may not be honored by a hospital or physician at the critical moment. Adults who have only a will have addressed one of the four failure points in a complete estate plan. The power of attorney for finances addresses a second. The health care documents address the third and fourth. Our dedicated Power of Attorney in Pennsylvania page covers the financial power of attorney in detail, including the 2015 amendments and the agent acknowledgment requirement.
Coordinating the Plan: Title, Beneficiaries, and Documents
The most technically correct will is only as effective as the overall structure it operates within. If the will directs assets to children equally but real estate is titled jointly with one child, the joint tenant receives the property by operation of law — not through the will. If a retirement account names a deceased spouse as beneficiary and no contingent beneficiary was designated, the account passes through the estate rather than directly to the intended recipient, triggering probate and potentially accelerating income tax recognition. These coordination failures are common and preventable. They arise not from bad intent but from structures that were never aligned after life events: a marriage, a divorce, a death in the family, a property purchase, a retirement account rollover.
Effective estate planning requires a review of how each asset is titled, what beneficiary designations are on file, and whether the documents are consistent with each other and with the client’s current intent. That review is the starting point of every engagement. The plan that results is specific to the client’s assets and family — not a template. For clients whose estate includes Pennsylvania real estate with multiple owners, the coordination questions that arise are addressed further on our inherited property and family real estate page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a will control everything I own in Pennsylvania?
No. A Pennsylvania will controls only assets titled solely in the decedent’s name with no designated beneficiary. Jointly held accounts pass to the surviving joint owner by operation of law. Retirement accounts and life insurance pass to the named beneficiary. Real estate in joint tenancy passes to the survivor. None of those assets are governed by the will regardless of what it says. The probate estate — the assets the will actually controls — is often smaller than people assume.
Do I need witnesses to sign a will in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania does not require witness signatures for a typewritten will to be valid, but two disinterested witnesses are strongly advisable. A witnessed will can be made self-proving, which simplifies the probate process by eliminating the need for witnesses to testify at probate. An unwitnessed will is valid but requires additional proof of execution. Holographic wills — entirely handwritten by the testator — are valid in Pennsylvania without witnesses but are more commonly contested.
When is a revocable living trust worth it in Pennsylvania?
A revocable living trust adds value when a client holds real estate in multiple states, has significant concerns about incapacity management, wants to avoid the public nature of probate, has a blended family situation, or wants immediate successor trustee authority without court appointment. It is not automatically superior to a will-based plan. A trust that is not properly funded provides no benefit. The right structure depends on the client’s assets, family, and objectives.
Do I still need a will if I have a revocable trust in Pennsylvania?
Yes. A pour-over will is a standard companion to a revocable trust. It captures any assets that were not transferred into the trust during life — whether through oversight or because they were acquired after the trust was created — and directs them into the trust at death. Without a pour-over will, assets outside the trust pass under Pennsylvania’s intestacy rules rather than the trust’s distribution provisions.
What happens if I die without a will in Pennsylvania?
If a Pennsylvania resident dies without a valid will, the estate passes under the state’s intestacy statute (20 Pa. C.S. § 2101 et seq.), which distributes assets according to a fixed hierarchy of relatives. A surviving spouse receives the first $30,000 plus half the remaining estate if there are surviving children from another relationship. Children share equally in the balance. The intestacy rules may not reflect what the decedent would have wanted, and they do not account for informal family arrangements, caregiving contributions, or specific bequests.
How often should I update my Pennsylvania will?
A will should be reviewed after any significant life event: marriage, divorce, the birth or adoption of a child, the death of a named beneficiary or executor, a major change in assets, or a move to or from Pennsylvania. As a baseline, a will that has not been reviewed in ten years is likely outdated. Pennsylvania does not automatically revoke a will upon divorce, though it does revoke provisions benefiting a former spouse. Relying on a pre-divorce will without reviewing it is a common and correctable mistake.
For guidance on estate administration after a death, including probate timelines, executor duties, and inheritance tax, see our Estate Administration and Probate page and our Estate Planning and Probate FAQs.