What to Do After a Parent Dies in Pennsylvania: A Plain-English Guide for Executors and Families

H Robert Fischer
Jun 7
10 min read

Updated: Jun 18

Written and reviewed by Robert Fischer, Esq., estate attorney at Fischer Legal Services, PLLC in Conneaut Lake, PA. Last updated June of 2026. This article is general information about Pennsylvania estates, not legal advice for your specific situation. Every link points to an official source — the Pennsylvania statutes, the courts, or a state agency — so you can verify.

When a parent dies in Pennsylvania, your first jobs are practical — find the original Will, order several certified death certificates, and keep the house and its insurance going. No one can legally act for the estate (deal with the bank, sell the house, pay bills) until the Register of Wills in your parent's county officially appoints someone. With a Will, that person is the executor; without one, the administrator. The proof of authority is a document called Letters Testamentary, or Letters of Administration. Until you hold it, most banks and title companies won't deal with you.

This guide answers the questions families actually ask — in plain language, in roughly the order they come up.

Key things to know

You need "Letters" from the Register of Wills before anyone treats you as in charge. A death certificate alone isn't enough.
Pennsylvania inheritance tax is 0% to a spouse, 4.5% to children, 12% to siblings, 15% to others — with no exempt amount.
Pay the inheritance tax within 3 months and you get a 5% discount. The full return is due in 9 months.
Don't pay debts or hand out money early. An executor who distributes too soon can be left personally on the hook.
If your parent was 55+ and on Medicaid, notify the state before distributing anything — this is the step families miss most.

The first few days: what do I do right now?

Handle practical things first — not legal ones. And do not start paying debts or handing out money yet; doing that early can leave you personally responsible later.

Find the original signed Will (a photocopy usually can't be used).
Order 8–12 certified death certificates from the funeral home — every bank and agency wants its own.
Secure the house, cars, and valuables, and keep the insurance paid.
List what your parent owned and whose name is on each thing — that decides whether you even need probate.
Don't pay bills or distribute anything yet.
Find out whether you need to open an estate (see below).
Watch the tax clock — there's a 5% discount if the inheritance tax is paid within 3 months of the date of death.
If anything's unclear, talk to a lawyer before you start calling banks.

What's the whole process, start to finish?

Most Pennsylvania estates move through the same eight basic steps:

Open the estate with the Register of Wills — file the Will, a short petition, and the death certificate, pay the fee, get sworn in, and receive your Letters.
Publish a notice to creditors for three weeks in a local paper and the legal journal.
Notify the heirs and beneficiaries within three months.
List and value everything as of the date of death.
Pay valid debts and taxes — in the right order, and not too early.
File and pay the inheritance tax (due in 9 months; 5% off if paid in 3).
Transfer or sell the house, cars, and any business.
Settle up, distribute what's left, get signed receipts, and close.

Even a straightforward estate usually takes nine months to a year or more, mostly because of the tax return and the time creditors are given to come forward.

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Getting started

Do I have to go through probate?

You only need probate if your parent owned something in their name alone — or as a co-owner without "right of survivorship." What's on the title matters far more than how much the estate is worth.

Skips probate: anything jointly owned with right of survivorship, a home married couples owned together, life insurance or retirement accounts with a named beneficiary, "payable-on-death" bank accounts, and anything in a living trust.

Needs probate: a house in your parent's name only, accounts with no co-owner or beneficiary, a car in their name only, refund checks, a business, or a lawsuit/claim.

What if my parent didn't leave much?

If the personal property going through probate is $50,000 or less (not counting real estate), Pennsylvania offers a simplified small-estate process that skips full administration. The inheritance tax is still owed, and a solely owned house usually still requires the full process.

The bank won't talk to me — how do I get authority?

You get authority from the Register of Wills in the county where your parent lived. They open the estate, appoint you, and hand you Letters plus certified copies. That is the document banks, title companies, and the IRS require — a death certificate by itself isn't enough, which is why families keep hitting a wall when they call "just to take care of things." If there's a Will, the named executor is appointed; if not, the law sets an order of who can serve, starting with the surviving spouse and close family.

Can I do probate online or by video?

In some counties, yes. A number of Pennsylvania Registers of Wills now do appointments by videoconference — Erie County offers it, and Crawford County does as well. Others (such as Lebanon) still require you to appear in person. Call the county office to confirm; you can find any of them through the statewide Registers of Wills directory.

Taxes and deadlines

How much is the inheritance tax in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania inheritance tax depends on who inherits, not the size of the estate. The rates are:

0% — to a spouse or charity
4.5% — to children, grandchildren, and parents
12% — to siblings
15% — to everyone else (nieces, nephews, friends, unmarried partners)

There is no exempt amount — the tax is owed on the first dollar — and Pennsylvania has no separate estate tax on top of it. So a child inheriting $100,000 owes $4,500, less deductions.

When do I have to pay it?

The return and payment are due nine months after the death. But if you pay within three months, you get a 5% discount — and even an early estimated payment counts. On a $20,000 bill, that's $1,000 saved, so it's worth deciding early. (Getting more time to file does not get you more time to pay.)

Do I pay the tax, or does the estate?

The executor normally pays the inheritance tax out of estate funds before anyone receives a share, but the tax is ultimately tied to each person's inheritance. Consulting the language of the Will can dictate how taxes are to be paid.

Debts and Medicaid

Do I have to pay my parent's credit cards and medical bills?

Almost never out of your own pocket. Debts are paid by the estate, not by you personally — unless you co-signed or shared the account. If there's enough money, valid bills get paid and the rest is distributed. If there isn't enough, Pennsylvania law sets the order: the costs of settling the estate and the family's allowance come first, then the funeral and final medical bills, and ordinary credit card debt comes last — so it's often what goes unpaid. That's one more reason not to pay any single creditor, or distribute money, before you can see the whole picture.

My parent was on Medicaid — can the state take the house?

This is the step families miss most. If your parent received Medicaid (Medical Assistance) for long-term care and was 55 or older, Pennsylvania's estate recovery program can be repaid out of the estate — often from the sale of the home.

The safe move: if your parent was 55 or older, notify the Department of Human Services and request a statement of claim — even if you don't think they received Medicaid. The state then has 45 days to respond. If you distribute the estate before settling this, you can be held personally responsible for the bill. When in doubt, send the notice; you can reach DHS Estate Recovery at (800) 528-3708.

The house, the mortgage, and the deed

What happens to the house?

It comes down to the title. If your parent owned the home jointly with right of survivorship, or as a married couple, the other owner gets it automatically — no probate. If the home was in your parent's name alone, it goes through the estate, and it can't be sold or transferred with clear title until the estate is open and the inheritance tax is handled. (Pennsylvania inheritance tax is a lien on inherited real estate from the date of death, so a title company won't insure a sale until the tax is addressed.)

The deed still has my late parent's name on it — is that a problem?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. If a surviving spouse already became the owner automatically, you usually just need to record the paperwork to clear the record. But if the home was held in a way that didn't pass automatically — and that earlier estate was never settled — the old interest is still legally stuck on the title, and you may have to open that long-ago estate now in order to sell. A title company will catch it at closing, so it's best sorted out early rather than under a deadline.

What happens to the mortgage? Can I keep the house?

A mortgage stays with the house — the estate doesn't pay it off from other money unless the Will specifically says so. If you keep and live in the home, a federal law generally stops the lender from calling the loan due just because the home passed to you, so you can usually keep making the existing payments. If the estate sells the home, the mortgage is paid off from the sale proceeds at closing. An attorney can prepare the executor's deed, coordinate the payoff, and clear the tax lien so the sale can actually close.

Who pays the utilities while the estate is open — and do I get paid back?

The estate is responsible for keeping the utilities, insurance, taxes, and upkeep going on estate property. If you front those costs yourself, you can be reimbursed from the estate — keep your receipts — and they usually count as deductions on the inheritance tax return. If someone is living in the home during administration, put in writing who's covering what.

Cars, guns, and a business

How do I transfer my parent's car?

Cars go through PennDOT, not the courts, using Form MV-39 plus proof of death. A surviving co-owner or spouse can usually retitle the vehicle without probate (no title fee for a spouse). A spouse — or a child or parent who lived in the home — can often claim the car as part of the family allowance. With no will and no spouse, all the heirs sign the form to assign it. PennDOT's Vehicle Transfer After Death fact sheet walks through each situation.

What do I do with my parent's guns?

It depends on the type. Rifles and shotguns can generally pass to family without a dealer. Handguns normally have to go through a licensed dealer or the county sheriff with a background check — except transfers between a spouse, parent and child, or grandparent and grandchild. Anyone legally barred from owning firearms can't inherit one, no matter what the Will says. Special items like suppressors or short-barreled rifles are federally registered and move to an heir on a specific ATF form — and an unregistered one is contraband, so call ATF rather than handling it. When in doubt, run the transfer through a licensed dealer.

What happens to my parent's business?

Read the business's own agreements first. An operating, partnership, or buy-sell agreement often spells out what happens to a co-owner's share at death and can override the Will. Beyond that, the interest has to be valued for the inheritance tax, someone needs authority to keep payroll and accounts running, and a family-owned business exemption may reduce the tax to zero for smaller businesses kept in the family. Because the documents, taxes, and other owners all collide here, this is a get-a-lawyer situation.

No will, your rights, and getting help

What if there's no will? Who gets what?

The Pennsylvania intestacy rules decide who inherits, and the person in charge is called the administrator. In rough terms: a surviving spouse with no children or living parents takes everything; a spouse with children who are also the spouse's children takes the first $30,000 plus half the rest; and a spouse takes half if any child isn't also theirs. Whatever the spouse doesn't take goes to the children, then to parents, then siblings. Blended families, estranged relatives, and a house in the mix are where this gets complicated fast.

The executor won't tell me anything — what can I do?

You have rights. The executor must formally notify you that the estate is open within a few months of being appointed, and you're entitled to reasonable information — who's serving, the main assets, whether the house is being sold, and roughly when distributions will happen. Ultimately, you can ask the court to make the executor file a full accounting. Estates do take time, so silence isn't always wrongdoing — but if you've been shut out or something feels off, a lawyer can pry loose the information or take it to the Orphans' Court.

Do I need a lawyer, and what does it cost?

A small, simple estate can sometimes be handled on your own. Many people hire help anyway, because the executor has real legal duties, hard deadlines, and personal liability if something is missed — and one early mistake can cost far more than the fee. Estate legal fees are usually paid from the estate, not your own pocket, and Pennsylvania uses a "reasonable" standard rather than a fixed percentage. It's especially worth it when there's real estate or a title snag, a business, a feuding or missing relative, a Medicaid issue, or any doubt about whether you even need probate.

Talk to a Pennsylvania estate lawyer

If your parent has died and you're not sure where to start, you don't have to figure it out alone. The first step is simply finding out whether you need to open an estate and who has authority to act — and that's a conversation, not a commitment.

Fischer Legal Services, PLLC helps executors, administrators, beneficiaries, and families across Pennsylvania with probate, executor representation, inheritance tax, debts and Medicaid recovery, real estate and title issues, vehicle and business transfers, and final distributions. We serve clients throughout the Commonwealth, including Erie, Crawford, and Mercer Counties and the Meadville, Erie, Conneaut Lake, Linesville and Jamestown areas.

📞 Call 814-449-9445 — we'll walk you through your next step in plain English.