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Monday, 09 January 2017 18:13

Register of Wills

The Register of Wills processes all resident descendants estate and Inheritance Tax receipting/documentation for individuals that are domiciled in Elk County at the time of their death.  The primary function of the Register is to determine whether a document offered for Probate should be admitted to the official record.  The Register of Wills has the authority to appoint personal representatives for estate administration.  With quasi-judicial powers, the Register can conduct evidentiary hearings, take testimony and render decisions on disputable estate matters prior to opening the official record.  Those decisions once rendered, may only be appealed for specific reasons to the Orphans' Court division of the Common Pleas Court.  The Register also is an agent for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the collection of state Inheritance Tax.

We've recently added the ability to remotely search our register of wills database index so that you can see if information has been received for a decedent.  The actual estate information IS NOT available online.  Please follow this link to access the index:  WILLS INDEX  and then click on the "Login as Guest" box.  You can then click on "Search Case Records" and specify your search criteria.   PLEASE NOTE, that if you are searching by name, please input the last name first, followed by the first name - no punctuation is needed.

Click here for Register Of Wills Fees.

There are several methods to handling an estate of your loved one.  If they did not own real estate, and the total value of their estate is $10,000 or less; you may want to consider obtaining an Affidavit of Non-Probate from our office that should be useful in closing out your loved ones' accounts.   If your loved one's assets are $50,000 or less, you may want to consider petitioning the Orphans Court to settle a small estate.   If assets are greater than $50,000 then the estate will need to go through probate.

CLICK HERE for the list of 2024 dates for those filing First & Final Accountings for estates.

While we highly recommend you engage the services of an estate attorney to handle the probating of an estate, it is possible to do this yourself (Pro Se).  If you decide to open an estate Pro Se, here are some guidelines and links to various documents you'll need to complete.

Elk County Estate Checklist  -  Print this as a roadmap through the estate administration process
Affidavit by Pro Se Petitioner -  This is your affidavit indicating that you intend to administer the estate Pro Se
RW-01 - Estate Information Sheet  
RW-02 - Petition For Grant Of Letters  
RW-03 - Oath of Subscribing Witness(es)  
RW-04 - Oath of Non-Subscribing Witness(es)  
RW-05 - Oath of Witness(es) to Will Executed by Mark  
RW-06 - Renunciation   
RW-07 - Notice of Estate Administration Pursuant to Pa. O.C. Rule 10.5   
RW-08 - Certification of Notice Under Pa. O.C. Rule 10.5  
RW-09 - Inventory  
RW-10 - Pa. O.C. Rule 10.6 Status Report  



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