Pennsylvania Estate Planning Laws

Pennsylvania estate planning laws govern legal documents that protect an individual’s assets, family members, and medical wishes in the event of death or incapacity. A comprehensive plan typically consists of a will or revocable living trust, an advance healthcare directive, and a durable power of attorney. Without these legally binding instructions, Pennsylvania state laws automatically determine how a person’s financial affairs and healthcare decisions are managed.

If you have assets, you have an estate. An estate plan is the set of legal documents that work together to protect you, your family members, and your loved ones. The protection comes from the instructions you set out in your estate planning documents. With a will-based or trust-based estate plan that includes incapacity planning, you can ensure that your wishes are known. In addition, an estate plan helps protect your family’s peace during their time of loss.

This article discusses the key elements of a comprehensive Pennsylvania estate plan. This includes a will or revocable living trust, an advance healthcare directive, and a durable power of attorney. We’ll also show you how to get started.

What Are Assets?

Your assets are the things you own. Assets include things like:

• Personal property
• Real estate
• Life insurance policies
• Retirement accounts
• Bank accounts
• Stocks and bonds

Together, your assets comprise your estate.

What Happens if You Don’t Have an Estate Plan?

Estate planning is about control. It allows you to control who receives what under either your will or revocable living trust, who handles your healthcare decisions when you can’t, and how your financial and legal matters are handled if you are incapacitated. With an estate plan in place, Pennsylvania law determines how your affairs are managed at your death or incapacity. The laws are the state’s one-size-fits-all best guess at what most people would want. The outcome may or may not align with your wishes.

How Your Assets Are Distributed at Death

Passing without an estate plan is known as dying “intestate.” Pennsylvania’s intestacy laws determine how your assets are distributed. The state will look far into the family tree to find an heir. If no suitable recipient can be found, your estate will go to a community fund in Pennsylvania.

The intestate succession law starts with married decedents and the surviving spouse’s share. For example:

• If you are married and die intestate with no children and your parents have died before you, your surviving spouse receives all of your estate
• If you have no children and a surviving parent or parents, your surviving spouse receives $30,000 plus 1/2 the remaining balance of your intestate estate
• If all your surviving children are also the children of your surviving spouse, your surviving spouse receives $30,000 plus 1/2 the remaining balance of your intestate estate
• If you have any children outside of the marriage, your surviving spouse receives 1/2 of your intestate estate

If you are not married at the time of your death or for any share of your estate that does not pass to your surviving spouse, the intestacy law prioritizes family members in this way:

• Your children
• Your parents
• Your brothers and sisters or their children
• Your grandparents
• Your aunts and uncles, their children, their grandchildren

If no heirs can be found, your estate will escheat to the state. If that’s not where you want your assets to go or if there are certain people you wish to exclude from inheriting, you’ll need to have an estate plan in place.

How Your Financial Decisions and Medical Care Are Handled if You’re Incapacitated

Incapacity planning typically includes an advance directive for healthcare matters and a durable power of attorney for financial matters. Through these documents, you provide important healthcare instructions (a living will) and appoint trusted agents to manage your healthcare decisions (a durable healthcare power of attorney). For financial matters, a durable power of attorney designates the person you wish to make decisions if you become incapacitated.

With these important legal documents, the transition of authority for your healthcare and financial decisions can be smooth and efficient. Without them, your family could face a time-consuming, costly, and emotionally charged legal process. In addition, you’ve given up control over who speaks for you when you can’t speak for yourself.

Pennsylvania Wills Laws

Your last will and testament, or “will” for short, is the foundation document of a will-based estate plan. Wills must be legally valid. Unlike some states, Pennsylvania does not provide a statutory will form. The elements for creating a valid will in Pennsylvania are covered by statute. Even with a will, your estate must go through Pennsylvania’s probate process before your estate assets are distributed.

Let’s take a closer look at what a valid will requires.

Elements of a Valid Will

A will must be in writing. Pennsylvania does not recognize oral (nuncupative) wills. Other conditions must also be met, including:

• Legal Capacity: The “testator” is the person making the will. The testator must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind.
• Signature: The testator must sign at the end of the original will. If the testator cannot sign, they may make a mark or direct another person to sign the will in the testator’s presence and at the testator’s direction.
• Witnesses: Pennsylvania generally does not require witnesses for a will that is signed by the testator. If the testator signs by mark or directs another person to sign on their behalf, the law requires two witnesses.
• Self-Proving Affidavit: Though not required, Pennsylvania allows a self-proving affidavit with the will. The affidavit is typically signed by the testator and two witnesses before a notary public. A self-proving affidavit can simplify the probate process by helping establish that the will was properly executed without further evidence.

A Pennsylvania probate court may recognize a holographic will, which is handwritten by the testator and usually not witnessed. Although witnesses are not required for a will signed by the testator in Pennsylvania, holographic wills open the door to legal challenges such as authenticity, capacity, and undue influence.

A Will Must Go Through the Probate Process

In Pennsylvania, the Register of Wills handles the probate process. Upon finding a will valid, an overview of the process includes:

• The Register of Wills issues Letters Testamentary to the executor (personal representative)
• The executor notifies beneficiaries and publishes a Notice of Estate Administration in local newspapers to provide notice to creditors
• The executor gathers and inventories the estate assets
• The executor pays all of the estate’s debts, including taxes, according to statutory priority
• The executor distributes the remainder to the beneficiaries according to the will and closes the estate

The Orphans’ Court handles disputes as well as any other issue that requires a judge.

The probate process for an intestate estate is similar. The Register of Wills grants Letters of Administration to a qualifying applicant, known as the administrator or personal representative. Once the initial steps are complete and all debts are paid, the remainder is distributed according to the state’s intestacy laws.

Avoiding Probate

Probate is often a long and trying process. Not all assets must go through the probate process. For example:

• Ownership title: Assets titled by joint tenancy with right of survivorship or by tenancy by the entirety (limited to married couples) pass to the surviving joint owner or to the surviving spouse, respectively, without probate
• Beneficiary designation: Several types of assets can pass by beneficiary designation, such as life insurance proceeds, retirement accounts, and annuities payable to a named beneficiary; payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts; and transfer-on-death (TOD) brokerage or investment accounts
• Revocable Living Trust: Assets held in a revocable living trust typically pass according to the trust’s terms without probate

Not having to go through probate can save your survivors time, money, and frustration. Given the complexity of probate statutes, speaking with a Pennsylvania estate planning attorney and names.

Pennsylvania Revocable Living Trust Laws

A revocable living trust (RLT) is the foundation document of a trust-based estate plan. The settlor (the person making the RLT) serves as the initial trustee and names a successor trustee who serves if the settlor becomes incapacitated or dies. The trustee manages the trust assets and, upon the settlor’s death, distributes them in accordance with the trust terms.

In addition to avoiding the time and expense of probate, other key benefits to a trust-based estate plan include:

• Privacy: The trust terms, your beneficiaries, and your assets don’t become public record
• Spendthrift guardrails: Your beneficiary’s distributions can be protected from creditors, divorce proceedings, or their own financial irresponsibility with spendthrift provisions
• Flexibility: A trust can accommodate more sophisticated planning goals than a will can, which can be especially helpful for blended families
• Incapacity planning: Your successor trustee can step in during your incapacity for matters involving the trust assets
• Multi-state properties: Trust assets don’t pass through probate, which means ancillary probate proceedings in each state aren’t necessary, as they would be under a will-based estate plan

It’s important to make sure your trust will be approved by the courts. The key elements of a valid Pennsylvania trust often include:

• Capacity: The person making the trust (known as the settlor, grantor, or trustmaker) has the capacity to create a trust
• In writing: The settlor signs a written document that indicates an intention to create the trust and contains provisions of the trust
• Definite beneficiary: The trust has a definite beneficiary or falls under an exception
• Duties: The trustee has duties to perform
• Distinct people: A sole trustee and a beneficiary of the trust are not the same person

As its name suggests, a revocable living trust may be revoked or changed during the settlor’s lifetime. Since families and relationships are dynamic, your estate planning needs and goals may change over time. Once your trust is created, you must fund it. This means all of the intended trust assets must be retitled in the trust’s name. Any assets left outside the trust must go through probate.

RLTs can be a bit tricky. If you ever feel like you’re getting in over your head, there’s no shame in speaking with an estate planning lawyer to ensure your RLT will perform the way you want it to.

Other Types of Trusts

Estate plans can include other types of trusts that address specific circumstances and goals. For example, a special needs trust can provide supplemental support to a child with a disability without jeopardizing their eligibility for government benefits. An irrevocable trust, such as a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust, can shield your assets, but strict timing requirements and other conditions must be met. Philanthropic goals can be achieved with charitable trusts. If you have a specific estate planning goal in mind, a trust may be the tool to help achieve it.

Tax Considerations

For deaths occurring in 2026, the federal estate tax exemption is $15 million per individual. This means the federal estate tax applies to estates with a value that exceeds $15 million after available deductions and credits. For married couples, up to $30 million can potentially be transferred free of federal estate tax liability.

While few estates meet the threshold for federal estate tax liability, state tax liability must also be considered. Pennsylvania does not impose a tax on your estate, but does collect inheritance taxes. Depending on their relationship to you, your beneficiaries may have to pay taxes on the real estate and personal property they inherit.

Do I Need an Attorney To Create My Estate Plan?

Pennsylvania does not require you to use an attorney to create your estate plan. Depending on your circumstances and estate planning goals, you may be able to create your estate plan without hiring an attorney.

When it comes to incapacity planning for healthcare decisions, Pennsylvania statute includes an advance directive form. This fill-in-the-blank form is designed to meet the statutory requirements. It may suit your needs entirely or be useful as a starting point for understanding some of the decisions you need to make for your advance directive.

A statutory form is not provided for appointing a durable power of attorney for financial and legal matters, but the requirements for creating one are specific. Incapacity planning grants significant authority. Online resources may work for some when crafting a state-specific advance directive and durable power of attorney, but getting legal advice from an estate planning attorney is always a good option.

When drafting a valid will, the requirements are also strict. An online will-drafting service may suffice, with the same holding true for creating a revocable living trust.

When To Get an Estate Planning Lawyer’s Help

In some situations, such as a significant estate, a complex or blended family, or a family business, you may want to consult an estate planning attorney. Meeting with a lawyer can help you understand your options and how to best provide for yourself and your beneficiaries. Knowing there’s someone in place to make important decisions when you can’t and that your loved ones will receive what you want them to can provide peace of mind.