Estate Administration · Probate · Pittsburgh

How Do I Choose an Estate Administration Attorney in Pennsylvania?

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The Register of Wills grants letters testamentary to the executor named in the will under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3155(a).

If you are still deciding whether to hire anyone, start with our page on whether you need an attorney. If the will names a lawyer and you are unsure you have to use that person, see using a different attorney. This page is for the next question: you have an estate to administer, and you are deciding whom to trust with it.

What You Are Actually Hiring Someone to Do

You are hiring someone to help move an estate from where it is now to proper completion, not only to file a petition with the Register of Wills. The petition and the grant of letters give the executor authority, and the administration that follows involves the estate’s assets, the inheritance tax return, creditors, real estate, accounting, and final distribution. Before hiring an attorney, understand which parts of the administration the attorney will handle and which responsibilities will remain with you or others.

So ask whether the attorney can tell you what will happen after probate, who will do each part, and how the estate reaches its end. Our estate administration and probate page describes that work from the first filing to the final distribution.

What Matters When You Choose

Start with Pennsylvania estate administration. Probate procedure, the inheritance tax, notice and advertising requirements, and the way the Register of Wills handles filings are specific to Pennsylvania.

Look for an attorney who can identify the issues in your estate. After a short look at the will and what you know about the assets, the attorney should be able to say what looks routine, what needs attention, and what is still unknown. A house with a clear title and a few accounts raises different questions from an estate with a business interest or property in another state, and the attorney’s answers should show that difference.

Familiarity should reach across the whole administration: the inheritance tax return, creditors, estate assets, real estate, distributions, and the executor’s responsibilities. Our page on executor duties lists that responsibility. It also matters that the attorney can carry the estate from the first probate filing through completion, so that you are not handed off partway or left to finish alone.

Communication is part of the work. You should be able to learn how the attorney explains the process, what you will be asked to do, how questions are answered, and who you will actually speak with. And ask how the attorney handles complications when they arise. A title question, a missing document, or a question from a beneficiary does not mean an estate will be contested, but the attorney should have a way of dealing with it without stopping the administration.

Questions to Ask at the First Meeting

The questions worth asking are about the work, not the attorney’s résumé. Ask what will happen after you hire the attorney, and what the attorney will handle compared with what you will need to handle. A clear answer walks through the steps in order and names who does each one. Ask what the attorney sees as the issues in your estate, and listen for specifics drawn from what you have told them.

Ask who will prepare and file the Pennsylvania inheritance tax return. The Allegheny County Register of Wills’ instructions give nine months from the date of death for the return, and the Department of Revenue allows a five percent discount on tax paid within three months, according to its payment page, so a good answer includes who is watching those dates. Ask how creditor claims are handled, and what has to happen before you can distribute assets to the beneficiaries.

Ask who you will communicate with during the administration and how your questions will be handled. Ask whether the attorney handles the estate through final distribution or only through part of it. Ask how fees are structured; the detail is on our page about attorney fees for estate administration, and the point of the question is to understand what the fee covers.

Warning Signs

Some answers should slow you down. If an attorney cannot clearly explain what happens after the probate filing, make sure you understand what work the attorney will actually perform before you hire them. Uncertainty about the Pennsylvania inheritance tax is another sign, because the return and its dates are part of administering an estate.

Pay attention to unclear responsibility. If it is not clear who will complete each step, who will file what, and what is left to you, the work can stall. The same goes for communication: you should know who will answer your questions and how. And you should be able to understand the fee arrangement before you sign.

An attorney who practices in several areas is not unqualified for that reason. What matters is whether the attorney can explain how your estate will be handled and can carry it through.

What to Bring to a First Consultation

Bring as much as you can. Papers left on the kitchen table do not help at the first meeting, and if the attorney does not need something, no harm done. That means the will, a death certificate if you have one, whatever you know about the assets and the debts, information about any real estate, and the names of the beneficiaries. Bring any letters or notices you have already received, from a bank, a creditor, or the court. If you are missing something, say so, and the attorney can tell you how to find it.

If you are earlier in the process and not sure where to begin, our page on what to do when someone dies in Pennsylvania lists the first steps.

If You Want Help Getting the Estate Handled

A website can tell you what an attorney handles, where the attorney practices, and something about how the attorney approaches the work. It cannot tell you what it will be like to work together. Estate administration can last months and involve questions you did not expect. Once you are satisfied that the attorney can handle the work, meet the attorney. Ask your questions. See whether the explanations make sense to you and whether this is someone you are comfortable calling when something comes up.

Lebovitz & Lebovitz, P.A. handles Pennsylvania estate administration from probate through completion for families in Allegheny County and the Pittsburgh area. That includes estates where another attorney drafted the will. You can read about the full service on our estate administration and probate page, or contact us to talk through your own estate.

Stephen H. Lebovitz is an estate planning attorney at Lebovitz & Lebovitz, P.A. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, near the Parkway East, representing executors and families in probate and estate administration in Allegheny County.

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.

Related: Estate Planning Overview | Estate Administration and Probate | Attorney Fees for Estate Administration | Do I Need an Attorney for Estate Administration? | Can I Use a Different Attorney for Estate Administration? | Executor Duties in Pennsylvania | Contact Us