Estate Planning · Probate · Pittsburgh
What to Do When Someone Dies in Pennsylvania: The First Week and What It Sets in Motion
The first week after a death in Pennsylvania involves decisions that cannot be undone. Most families make them without knowing which ones are permanent. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3101 et seq., the executor named in the will — not the family member who steps up informally — has legal authority over the estate. Actions taken before that authority is established, or by someone who does not have it, can create problems that take months to resolve.
Most of what needs to happen in the first week can wait. Notifying family, receiving visitors, arranging the funeral, being present — none of that has a legal deadline. When you are ready to think about the legal and business side of things, the sequencing matters. The first week after a death is when most estate problems begin — not because families act with bad intentions but because they act without knowing which decisions are permanent and which are not. Removing items from the house before an inventory, accessing the decedent’s accounts to pay bills before letters testamentary are issued, signing funeral home paperwork without reading it — none of these feel like legal decisions in the moment. Several of them are. There is no estate account until the executor is sworn in and letters testamentary are issued. Before that point, the estate’s money is still in the decedent’s accounts, and accessing those accounts without authority creates problems regardless of the intent behind it.
A Pittsburgh family lost their father on a Monday. By Thursday the adult children had agreed verbally that the oldest sibling would handle everything — but the will named a different executor. One sibling paid the funeral home from a joint account without consulting the surviving spouse who held the other interest. Another distributed personal property from the house before any inventory was taken. Two credit cards were cancelled, destroying charge records the estate needed to reconstruct assets. None of the Thursday decisions felt like legal decisions. All four created legal problems.
Most estate problems in the first week come from the same four decisions. Knowing which they are before you make them costs nothing.
If someone has just died and you are not sure what you can and cannot do yet, call 412-351-4422 or schedule a consultation before taking action on property, accounts, or authority.
Who Has Legal Authority in the First Week
Until the executor receives letters testamentary from the Allegheny County Register of Wills, no one has formal legal authority to act on behalf of the estate.
Until the executor named in the will receives letters testamentary from the Allegheny County Register of Wills, no one has formal legal authority over the estate. The named executor has priority to apply for letters but has not yet been granted authority. Family members who act on the estate’s behalf during this window — paying bills, accessing accounts, distributing property — are acting without legal authority regardless of how reasonable it seems in the moment. If there is no will, the same gap exists until letters of administration are issued to an administrator under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3155.
This authority gap is the source of most first-week problems. It does not mean nothing can be done — funeral arrangements proceed, family gathers, immediate practical needs are addressed. It means that actions affecting estate assets, estate accounts, and estate property should wait until letters are issued or should be taken only by someone who understands which actions are legally safe before authorization exists. The distinction between what is urgent and what can wait a week is the first judgment call in every estate administration.
What to Do First: The Sequencing That Protects Options
The first 48 hours involve practical necessities that are legally straightforward: notifying family, contacting a funeral home, and locating the will if one exists. The will location matters because it names the executor, and the executor is the person with legal authority to act. If the will is in a safe deposit box, Pennsylvania law allows the box to be opened for the limited purpose of retrieving the will — but only the will, and only in the presence of a bank officer. Removing other contents requires letters testamentary.
Within the first week, the practical priorities are: locate and secure the will, identify the named executor, contact the Allegheny County Register of Wills to understand the probate filing process, and avoid distributing or disposing of any personal property until an inventory exists. The inheritance tax return is due nine months from death under 72 P.S. § 9153, but the five percent discount for early payment applies to amounts paid within three months — so the tax deadline is not urgent in week one, but the discount window is shorter than most families realize.
Social Security is typically notified of the death by the funeral home directly and does not require a separate call from the family in most cases. What does require attention: Social Security will reclaim the benefit payment for the month of death if it was deposited after the date of death — that money should not be spent. A surviving spouse or minor children may be entitled to survivor benefits but must apply separately; SSA does not trigger survivor benefits automatically. If the decedent was receiving SSI or serving as a representative payee for another person, those relationships end at death and require separate notification.
The Four Decisions That Create Problems
Four first-week actions create the majority of estate administration problems. The first is informal property distribution — family members taking personal property from the house before an inventory is completed. Even when the distribution feels fair and agreed-upon, it creates disputes later when the will does not match what was taken, when a beneficiary who was not present objects, or when the property turns out to have significant value. An inventory completed before any distribution protects everyone.
The second is unauthorized account access. Joint accounts with right of survivorship pass to the surviving joint owner outside of probate and can be accessed immediately. Accounts in the decedent’s name alone require letters testamentary before withdrawal — and there is no estate account until the executor is sworn in and letters are issued. Using the decedent’s personal accounts to pay bills before letters are issued — even legitimate bills — creates accounting problems and potential liability for the person who acted. The third is verbal authority agreements among family members that conflict with the will’s named executor. The fourth is signing funeral home or cremation paperwork without understanding what it authorizes and whether it forecloses options that other family members expected to have. Pennsylvania law under 20 Pa.C.S. § 305 establishes a priority order for funeral authorization — that order matters when family members disagree.
Finding the Documents: What to Look For in the First Week
The first week is the right time to locate and secure key documents before they are lost, discarded, or inaccessible. The original will is the most important — without it the executor cannot probate the estate. If the original will cannot be found, Pennsylvania allows a lost will to be probated under certain circumstances but the process is more complicated. Beyond the will, the documents that matter most in the first week are: trust agreements (if any trusts were created), life insurance policies and the contact information for each insurer, retirement account statements (IRA, 401k, pension), beneficiary designation forms for any account that has them, deeds to real property, vehicle titles, bank and investment account statements, recent federal and Pennsylvania tax returns, and the key to any safe deposit box.
One document that does not help after death: the power of attorney. A durable power of attorney terminates automatically at the moment of the principal’s death under 20 Pa.C.S. § 5606. The agent who had authority to manage finances, sign documents, and act on the principal’s behalf during life has no authority after death. That authority passes exclusively to the executor named in the will once letters testamentary are issued. A family member who continues to act under a POA after the principal’s death is acting without legal authority regardless of what the POA document says.
Probate in Allegheny County begins at the Register of Wills office, located in the City-County Building in downtown Pittsburgh. The formal starting point is the Petition for Grant of Letters — the document that initiates the estate, identifies the decedent, names the executor or administrator, and requests the court to issue letters testamentary or letters of administration. The petition requires the original will (if one exists), signatures, notarization, and payment of filing fees. An attorney prepares and files it. Once the Register reviews the will for proper execution and the petition is approved, the executor is sworn in and the short certificate issues. For straightforward estates with no contest, Allegheny County processing typically takes one to two weeks from filing. Scheduling a consultation before that filing ensures the petition is complete and the executor understands what they are taking on — including the fiduciary duties, the personal liability, and the timeline — before they raise their hand and are sworn. For specific guidance on citation service, hearing timelines, and what actually happens after you file in Allegheny County Orphans’ Court, see our local procedural guide.
If there is no will, the priority for appointment as administrator follows the statutory order under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3155: surviving spouse first, then adult children, then other heirs. If family members disagree about who should serve as administrator, the Register of Wills will hear the dispute or refer it to the Orphans’ Court. Letters testamentary or letters of administration — commonly called a short certificate in Pennsylvania — are the document that gives the executor or administrator legal authority to act. The short certificate functions like a power of attorney for the estate: banks, financial institutions, brokerage firms, transfer agents, and real estate recorders all require it before releasing information or transferring assets. Without it, no institution will cooperate. The Register of Wills issues multiple certified copies and the executor should request enough for all anticipated transactions — typically six to ten copies for a moderately complex estate. Each institution usually keeps its own copy. Nothing consequential should happen before the short certificate exists. For a full overview of what Allegheny County Orphans’ Court handles and how that process works, see our page on Orphans’ Court in Pennsylvania.
A Pittsburgh executor went to her father’s bank the week after he died with one certified copy of the short certificate. The bank kept it. She went to the brokerage with a photocopy. The brokerage would not accept it — only certified originals. She went back to the Register of Wills for more copies, waited several days, paid again for each certified copy, then returned to the brokerage. The transfer agent for a small stock holding required its own copy and would not share with the brokerage. The title company handling the house required a separate copy dated within sixty days of closing — the original copy she had obtained was too old by then and she needed a current one reissued. She had requested three copies at probate. She needed nine. The short certificate is not a one-time document. It is a recurring production requirement for every institution that touches the estate.
What the Surviving Spouse Needs to Know
A surviving spouse in Pennsylvania has rights that exist independent of the will. The elective share under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2203 entitles a surviving spouse to one-third of the decedent’s estate regardless of what the will provides. The family exemption under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3121 provides up to $3,500 in personal property to the surviving spouse or children before the estate is administered. Joint accounts with right of survivorship, life insurance with the spouse as named beneficiary, and jointly owned real property all pass outside of probate immediately.
A surviving spouse who is not named as executor but is concerned about how the estate is being administered has standing to receive information from the executor and to object to accounting if assets are mishandled. A surviving spouse who is named as executor but does not want to serve may decline the appointment before accepting. The first week is also when the surviving spouse should locate all beneficiary designation forms — life insurance, retirement accounts, TOD/POD accounts — because those assets transfer immediately to the named beneficiary regardless of what the will says.
The Inheritance Tax Clock and the Discount Window
Pennsylvania inheritance tax is due nine months from the date of death. That deadline is not urgent in the first week. What is urgent is understanding the five percent discount: Pennsylvania reduces the inheritance tax by five percent for amounts paid within three months of death. For estates with significant taxable assets, the discount represents real money. A rough estimate of the tax owed — calculated on the taxable estate at applicable rates — should be made within the first month so the family can decide whether to pay early and claim the discount or defer to the nine-month deadline.
Pennsylvania inheritance tax rates vary by relationship to the decedent: zero percent for transfers to a surviving spouse, four and a half percent for transfers to direct descendants and parents, twelve percent for transfers to siblings, and fifteen percent for other beneficiaries. Real estate, financial accounts, and personal property are all taxable. Life insurance proceeds paid to a named beneficiary are generally not subject to inheritance tax. The inheritance tax return, REV-1500, is filed with the Register of Wills in the county where the decedent resided. For a full explanation of Pennsylvania inheritance tax rates, deadlines, and the discount calculation, see our page on Pennsylvania inheritance tax deadline and the five percent discount.
When to Call an Attorney in the First Week
Not every estate requires immediate attorney involvement in the first week. A simple estate with a clear will, cooperative beneficiaries, no real estate outside Pennsylvania, and no business interests may be administered by the named executor with attorney involvement at specific stages rather than continuously. The situations that benefit from early attorney involvement are: estates with real estate that needs to transfer, disputes among family members about authority or distribution, a surviving spouse whose interests may conflict with other beneficiaries, business interests requiring immediate management decisions, or any indication that the will may be contested.
The cost of a fifteen-minute conversation in the first week is almost always less than the cost of unwinding a decision made without legal advice. The Pittsburgh family in the case above spent six months resolving conflicts that a single conversation before Thursday would have prevented. Most legal disasters begin as normal situations. The first week after a death is when normal and legal diverge most quietly and most consequentially. For a full overview of estate administration in Pennsylvania and what the executor’s role involves, see our page on estate administration and probate in Pennsylvania.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who has legal authority over the estate in the first week?
No one has formal legal authority until the executor named in the will receives letters testamentary from the Allegheny County Register of Wills, or until letters of administration are issued if there is no will. Family members who act on the estate’s behalf before letters are issued are acting without legal authority. For straightforward estates, Allegheny County Register of Wills processing typically takes one to two weeks from filing.
Can I take personal property from the house before probate?
Not without risk. Removing personal property from the estate before an inventory is completed creates disputes when the distribution does not match the will, when absent beneficiaries object, or when the property has unexpected value. An inventory completed before any distribution protects everyone involved. The executor has authority to oversee the inventory once letters testamentary are issued. Taking property before that point, even with family agreement, can create accounting and liability problems.
Can I access the deceased’s bank accounts to pay bills?
It depends on the account type. Joint accounts with right of survivorship pass to the surviving joint owner immediately and can be accessed. Accounts in the decedent’s name alone require letters testamentary before withdrawal — and there is no estate account until the executor is sworn in and those letters are issued. Using funds from a solely-owned account to pay bills before letters are issued — even legitimate estate bills — creates accounting problems and potential liability. The executor should wait for letters before accessing the decedent’s accounts, or consult an attorney about which payments can safely be made in the interim.
What happens if there is no will?
The estate passes under Pennsylvania’s intestate succession statute to the decedent’s heirs in the order established by 20 Pa.C.S. § 2101 et seq. The priority for appointment as administrator follows 20 Pa.C.S. § 3155: surviving spouse first, then adult children, then other heirs. If family members disagree about who should serve, the Register of Wills will hear the dispute. Intestate estates often create more family conflict than estates with wills because the statutory distribution may not match what family members expected.
Who decides cremation vs burial when family members disagree?
Pennsylvania law under 20 Pa.C.S. § 305 establishes a priority order for the right to control disposition of remains. The surviving spouse has priority, followed by adult children, then parents, then siblings. If the decedent left written instructions about disposition — in a will, a pre-arranged funeral contract, or a separate written directive — those instructions are generally followed. A family member who overrides the priority order may face legal liability. When family members disagree and the dispute cannot be resolved informally, the Orphans’ Court has jurisdiction to resolve it.
What is the Pennsylvania inheritance tax discount and when does it apply?
Pennsylvania reduces the inheritance tax by five percent for amounts paid within three months of the decedent’s death. The full tax is due nine months from death. For estates with significant taxable assets, the discount represents meaningful savings and the decision about whether to pay early should be made in the first month, not the ninth. The applicable tax rates depend on the relationship to the decedent: zero percent for a surviving spouse, four and a half percent for direct descendants, twelve percent for siblings, fifteen percent for others.
Does the will control everything, or are there assets that pass outside of it?
Many assets pass outside the will entirely. Life insurance with a named beneficiary, retirement accounts with beneficiary designations, jointly owned property with right of survivorship, and TOD/POD accounts all transfer directly to the named beneficiary or surviving owner regardless of what the will says. These non-probate assets are often the largest assets in an estate. A will that leaves everything to one child means nothing if the retirement accounts name a different beneficiary. Locating and reviewing all beneficiary designations in the first week is as important as locating the will.
How long does estate administration take in Pennsylvania?
A simple estate with a clear will, liquid assets, no real estate complications, and cooperative beneficiaries can be administered and closed in six to twelve months. Estates with real estate, business interests, contested distributions, or inheritance tax disputes take longer — twelve to twenty-four months is common for moderately complex estates. The nine-month inheritance tax deadline is typically the first hard deadline in the administration timeline. Pennsylvania does not require that estates be formally closed, but the executor has continuing duties and potential liability until the estate is fully administered and the accounting is approved.
What is a short certificate and why do I need it?
A short certificate is the Pennsylvania term for letters testamentary or letters of administration — the certified document issued by the Register of Wills that proves the executor or administrator has legal authority to act on behalf of the estate. Banks, brokerage firms, financial institutions, transfer agents, and real estate recorders all require it before releasing information or transferring assets. It functions like a power of attorney for the estate, but it only comes into existence after the Register of Wills issues it — which requires filing the will, paying fees, and completing the probate process. Nothing in the estate can move until the short certificate exists. Request at least six to ten certified copies — each institution typically retains its own.
Does a power of attorney stay in effect after death?
No. A durable power of attorney terminates automatically at the moment of the principal’s death under 20 Pa.C.S. § 5606. The agent’s authority to act ends immediately. After death, only the executor named in the will has legal authority over the estate — and only after letters testamentary are issued by the Register of Wills. A family member who held POA authority during the principal’s life and continues to act under it after death is acting without legal authority. This is one of the most common misunderstandings in the first week after a death.
For a full overview of estate planning and probate, visit our Estate Planning and Probate page.
Lebovitz & Lebovitz, P.A. · Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, near the Parkway East (Swissvale-Edgewood exit). Serving Allegheny County and southwestern Pennsylvania.