Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

Re: Legal requirements in PA for a small estate.

In Pennsylvania, a "small" estate is one with probate assets of under $25,000. If all of your father's assets were jointly owned with your mother, they would automatically pass to her upon his death. Some assets, like a car, would have to be retitled. But if he owned over $25,000.00 of assets in his name only, it sounds as if you will need to go through a probate procedure. I am assuming that your father resided in PA at the time of his death. The probate procedure itself is not arduous or expensive, but does involve filing his will, having Letters issued to the executor, and filing the necessary state inheritance returns. There is no one set fee for the legal services involved. Some attorneys charge a flat fee, others charge based on their time. You may contact me for further information.

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Re: Legal requirements in PA for a small estate.

The jointly-held property passes automatically to your father. The remainder is subject to probate, but there is no Pa. inheritance tax for Pa. residents with assets passing to the surviving spouse. A fee for this type of relatively-simple estate could be a flat fee set in advance, but I would have to know more details to determine what that would be.

This is general information for discussion purposes and is not legal advice. We would have to have an attorney-client relationship for me to give legal advice.