Estate Administration · Probate · Pittsburgh
Do I Need an Attorney for Estate Administration in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania generally does not require an executor to hire an attorney, but the work is specialized and the executor is responsible for getting it right. The Register of Wills grants letters testamentary to the executor named in the will under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3155(a), not to a lawyer. Calling one means you do not start from scratch.
You may be grieving, and you were also named executor in your parent’s will. Along with the loss comes a legal job: a Register of Wills filing, an inheritance tax return, and deadlines, and others may be looking to you. Somewhere in that first week the question comes up: do I have to hire a lawyer?
The job is yours either way. The question is whether you do it with help.
No one expects you to already know how estate administration works.
If you are weighing whether to hire an attorney for the estate, call 412-351-4422 or schedule a consultation. We handle estate administration in Allegheny County and the Pittsburgh area.
Does this sound like your situation?
The process is specific, and no one is expected to know it already.
It is a document from the Register of Wills that banks and other institutions ask for. You do not need to know the details before you call.
Date-of-death balances and values have to be established before the inheritance tax return can be prepared.
It is the Pennsylvania REV-1500, and tax paid within three months of the death earns a five percent discount.
Who gets notice, and how, are specific steps. They are not hard to follow once someone lays them out.
Creditors and taxes have to be known before the estate is distributed and closed.
What Pennsylvania Law Actually Requires
Pennsylvania generally does not require an executor to hire an attorney to probate a will or administer an estate. The Register of Wills grants letters testamentary to the executor named in the will, and an executor can make the filings without a lawyer. Being allowed to do the work is a different question from knowing how to do it.
Probate begins at the Register of Wills, and the grant of letters is what gives the executor authority to collect assets and pay debts. The Allegheny County Register of Wills’ own probate instructions say they are not legal advice and tell people to direct legal questions to an attorney of their choice.
What Estate Administration Involves
Estate administration is a series of specific tasks, in order, with filings that have to be right. It starts with a petition at the Register of Wills, which then issues the letters and the short certificates that banks and other institutions ask for.
The grant has to be advertised, and a certification that the beneficiaries were notified is due within three months of probate. Then the estate has to be valued. The inventory and the tax return both depend on what each account, asset, and piece of real estate was worth on the date of death, so balances and values have to be obtained and documented, item by item.
The Pennsylvania inheritance tax return is the REV-1500. The inventory and the return are due within nine months of the death, and the Department of Revenue allows a five percent discount on tax paid within three months, according to its inheritance tax payment page. Our pages on Pennsylvania inheritance tax and the filing deadline explain the rates and the dates.
Creditors have to be identified and dealt with before anything is distributed. Distributions come last, after debts and taxes are known, and a status report is due within two years of probate. Our page on executor duties sets out what the executor is responsible for along the way.
None of this is hard to understand once someone explains it, and none of it is something anyone is expected to know in advance. Most people administer an estate only once or twice in their lives, so there is no reason you should already know what a short certificate is, how the notices work, how to establish date-of-death values, or how to prepare the REV-1500. That is not a gap in the executor. It is the nature of specialized work that comes up rarely.
So the question is not whether you could learn it. You probably could. The question is whether you want to learn estate administration from scratch while you are also running the estate.
If You Decide to Hire an Attorney
You do not need to understand any of that before you call an attorney. Handling it is what an estate administration attorney is there for.
If you decide you want help, involving an attorney before complicated decisions, distributions, or unresolved problems can make the administration easier to manage. Bring the will, a death certificate, a list of what your parent owned and owed, and any letters or notices you have already received. How estate attorneys bill, and who pays and when, is covered on our page about attorney fees for estate administration.
If you want someone who already knows the process and can help carry the estate from probate through final distribution, Lebovitz & Lebovitz, P.A. does that work for families in Allegheny County and the Pittsburgh area. That includes estates where another attorney drafted the will, as explained in our page on using a different attorney. The full service is described on our estate administration and probate page, and you can contact us to talk through your own estate.
Letters testamentary and letters of administration are granted by the Register of Wills in each county under Title 20 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes. Estate matters that come before a court are heard in the Orphans’ Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas, and the Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System publishes court information for each county.
Lebovitz & Lebovitz, P.A. · Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Serving Allegheny County and southwestern Pennsylvania.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I legally need an attorney to probate a will in Pennsylvania?
Generally, no. Pennsylvania does not require an executor to hire an attorney, and the Register of Wills grants letters testamentary to the executor named in the will. Being allowed to do the work is different from knowing how to do it, which is why an executor may want help.
What does an executor have to know to administer an estate in Pennsylvania?
The work includes the probate petition, advertising of the grant and notice to beneficiaries, a short certificate from the Register of Wills, date-of-death values for the estate’s assets, creditor claims, the Pennsylvania REV-1500 inheritance tax return, and the steps before distribution and closing. An executor does not have to know any of it before contacting an attorney.
Do I need to understand the process before I call an attorney?
No. You can call with the will and whatever you know about the estate. Explaining the steps, and carrying them out, is the attorney’s job.
How much does it cost to have an attorney handle estate administration?
Our page on attorney fees for estate administration explains how estate attorneys bill and who pays them. This page covers the earlier question of whether you need one at all.
Can I hire an attorney after I have already started?
Yes. An executor can generally bring in an attorney at any stage. It is easier earlier, and it helps to bring everything already filed or received, including the letters, any notices, and a record of what has been paid.
Can I choose a different attorney than the one who drafted the will?
Generally, yes. Unless the will specifically says otherwise, the executor decides who helps with the administration. Our page on using a different attorney explains an executor’s freedom to choose.
Related: Estate Planning Overview | Estate Administration and Probate | Executor Duties in Pennsylvania | Attorney Fees for Estate Administration | You Were Named Executor in Pennsylvania | Can I Use a Different Attorney for Estate Administration? | Contact Us