Estate Planning in Pennsylvania

Married with children (same marriage)

Your spouse receives the first $30,000 of your intestate estate plus one-half of the remaining balance. Your children split the rest equally.

Married with children from a prior relationship

Your spouse receives only one-half of your intestate estate — the $30,000 preferential share does not apply when any child is not the spouse's child. Your children from the prior relationship split the other half.

Married, no children

If neither of your parents survives, your spouse inherits the entire estate. If one or both parents survive, your spouse receives the first $30,000 plus half the balance, and your parents take the rest.

Single with children

Your children inherit everything equally.

Single, no children

Your parents inherit equally. If only one parent survives, that parent takes the entire estate. If neither parent survives, your siblings inherit. The chain continues through grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

What makes a will valid

A written will signed by the testator at the end. Pennsylvania does not require witnesses at the time of execution, but two witnesses are needed to prove the will during probate. A self-proving affidavit, signed and notarized at the time of execution, bypasses this requirement.

What people think

That signing a will without witnesses makes it automatically valid and easy to probate.

What actually happens

The will may be valid, but proving it becomes the problem. Without witnesses who can attest to the testator's signature, the executor must locate people to verify it — a process that causes delays, costs money, and sometimes fails entirely.

Common failure

Executing a will without witnesses or a self-proving affidavit. When the testator dies years later, finding people who can identify the signature becomes the primary obstacle to probate.

When a trust is better

When inheritance tax planning is a priority (trusts can be structured to minimize exposure), when privacy matters (wills become public record), when property is owned in multiple states, or when managing distributions for minor children over time.

Execution checklist

1. Sign the will at the end — Pennsylvania requires the signature to be at the end of the document
2. Have two competent witnesses sign in your presence (strongly recommended though not technically required at execution)
3. Execute a self-proving affidavit (notarized) at the same time
4. Store the original signed document securely — the Register of Wills requires the original for probate

What it does

Grants authority to a named agent to manage financial, legal, and property affairs on your behalf.

Key rule

Pennsylvania recognizes durable powers of attorney that survive incapacity, but the document must include explicit durability language. Without it, the POA terminates when you become incapacitated. The statutory short-form POA includes this language by default.

Real-world friction

Banks and financial institutions in Pennsylvania sometimes reject POAs that are more than a few years old, that don't match their internal forms, or that use non-statutory language. Using the Pennsylvania statutory form and having it notarized significantly reduces rejection risk.

Common mistake

Failing to include durability language, granting authority that's too broad or too narrow, or waiting until incapacity has already begun — at which point the principal can no longer legally execute a POA.

What it covers

Your preferences for life-sustaining treatment, end-of-life care decisions, and the designation of a health care agent to make decisions if you cannot.

What's different

Pennsylvania allows a combined advance directive that includes both your living will instructions and your health care power of attorney in a single document. This is simpler than states that require two separate documents.

Execution requirements

Must be signed by the declarant and witnessed by two individuals who are at least 18 years old. The health care agent should not serve as a witness.

Common misunderstanding

Confusing the health care directive with a financial POA. They are entirely separate documents with different legal authority. A health care agent cannot access your bank accounts, and a financial agent cannot make medical decisions.

When required

When assets are held solely in the decedent's name without a beneficiary designation, transfer-on-death designation, or joint ownership with right of survivorship.

What makes Pennsylvania different

Pennsylvania probate is administered through the Register of Wills and the Orphans' Court division of the Court of Common Pleas. The system is decentralized — each of Pennsylvania's 67 counties has its own Register of Wills with different local practices and fee schedules. Additionally, the inheritance tax creates a significant financial event that most other states don't impose.

Probate paths

What people get wrong

Assuming that avoiding probate also avoids the inheritance tax. It doesn't — Pennsylvania inheritance tax applies to most transfers at death regardless of whether the assets go through probate. Life insurance payable to a named beneficiary is one of the few significant exemptions.

When a trust is useful

Minimizing inheritance tax exposure through strategic structuring, avoiding probate entirely, maintaining privacy (wills become public record), managing distributions for minor children, or holding property in multiple states.

When a trust is unnecessary

Very small estates where the inheritance tax burden is minimal and the simplified probate procedure is available. The cost and complexity of creating and funding a trust may not be justified.

Key mistake

Creating a trust but not retitling assets into it. Pennsylvania inheritance tax applies based on the transfer of assets at death — if assets are still in your personal name, they pass through probate and are subject to inheritance tax regardless of the trust's existence.

Signing a will without witnesses or a self-proving affidavit

While technically valid in Pennsylvania, a will without witnesses creates significant probate complications. Two witnesses must later be found to verify the testator's signature — a requirement that becomes harder to meet as time passes.

Not planning for inheritance tax

Pennsylvania's inheritance tax catches many families off guard. The 4.5% rate on children's inheritances and the 15% rate on non-relative beneficiaries can represent substantial sums that beneficiaries must pay within nine months of death.

Leaving assets to an unmarried partner without tax planning

An unmarried partner pays the maximum 15% inheritance tax rate. Strategies such as lifetime gifting, life insurance with the partner as named beneficiary, or joint ownership can reduce this burden.

Assuming the surviving spouse inherits everything

If surviving parents exist and there are no children, the spouse receives only the first $30,000 plus half the balance — the parents take the rest. In blended families, the spouse's share is reduced further.

Missing the 5% early-payment discount on inheritance tax

Pennsylvania offers a 5% discount on inheritance tax paid within three months of death. On a $500,000 estate passing to children, this saves over $1,000.

Using a non-durable POA

Without explicit durability language, a POA terminates at incapacity. The family is then forced to petition the Orphans' Court for guardianship — a process that costs thousands and takes months.

Not understanding that probate avoidance doesn't equal tax avoidance

Assets that bypass probate through beneficiary designations or joint ownership are still generally subject to Pennsylvania inheritance tax. Only certain exemptions (spouse transfers, life insurance to a named beneficiary, qualified farms and businesses) provide tax relief.