The death of a close family member places a difficult burden upon the remainder of the family for handling the financial affairs. Whether there was a will and what steps are necessary to carry out its provisions? If there is no will, what happens to their property? What about estate and inheritance taxes?

These situations call for the advice of a skilled attorney, knowledgeable and experienced in the practice of Wills & Estates, which may also be known as Probate Law.

Register of Wills
If the family member had prepared a will during their lifetime, the probate attorney will assist in preparing the Petition for Grant of Letters before the Register of Wills. The procedure involves lodging the Will and presentation of a formal Petition of the Register of Wills. At this time the person named in the Will is sworn in as executor or personal representative for the estate.

If no will is found or if the named executor is unavailable, the Register of Wills possesses the authority to appoint an administrator to handle the estate. Even without a will, Pennsylvania makes provision for the succession of property to next of kin in order and degree of their relationship to the deceased.

Administration of the Estate
This executor or administrator now becomes the decedent’s personal representative and is vested with the authority to handle all of their personal and financial affairs as fully as the decedent during their own lifetime.

Normally the personal representative collets the assets of the estate, and files a listing, or an Inventory, of those assets with the Court. At this time the personal representative also begins the preparation of the Pennsylvania Transfer Inheritance Tax Return and attends to the preparation of a Federal Estate Tax Return, if required.

Cash assets and sale proceeds are customarily retained by the personal representative in a bank account or investment account on behalf of the estate. An experienced estate attorney can provide guidance to the personal representative in properly protecting and investing the assets during the estate administration process. Claims against the estate must be evaluated and payment made or objections to payment noted.

The law imposes upon the personal representative a duty of the highest order, called a fiduciary duty. This requires strict management and comprehensive accounting of all transactions, concluding with the preparation and presentation of a Final Account to a Common Pleas Court Judge, detailing all financial transactions undertaken on behalf of the estate. Any objections and claims against the estate must be raised at this time. Once the case is presented, a Judge audits the estate and, if approved, issues a Decree of Distribution. The estate is now ready for distribution to the proper beneficiaries, and the personal representative is relieved by this Decree from further liability.

This whole procedure typically takes from as little as six (6) to as long as eighteen (18) months.

Some estates, particularly those waiting for the sale of assets such as real estate, may take longer. Once a Court Decree has been entered, the personal representative is relieved from any further liability for handling the estate, and, even more importantly, the rights of any adverse claimants to the estate are terminated.

Taxes
Pennsylvania Transfer Inheritance Tax is due within nine (9) months from date of death. For certain larger estates, a Federal Estate Tax return may be required. Strict time limits apply, and your probate attorney should be relied upon for counsel and advice for the preservation of the estate.

Fees
Both the personal representative and the estate attorney are entitled to charge a fee for their services to the estate. All fees are subject to the strict scrutiny of Court approval. Your attorney should set out in writing at the beginning of the engagement precisely how an attorney’s fee is to be determined. The engagement should detail for the personal representative which services are included in the fee and whether there are any additional services to be performed for the estate which may not be included in the initial estimation of fees.

Call Bromberg & Miller at 412-471-9710 for a consultation regarding the handling of your family’s estate.

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