In addition to other duties, the Register of Wills serves as an agent for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for filing and payment of Inheritance Taxes. The inheritance tax return and payment is filed at the Register of Wills, and is then forwarded to the Commonwealth by this office. If you have questions, you should contact an attorney or an accountant for assistance.
All records in the Register of Wills are open to the public with the exception of Adoption records, which are impounded (sealed by the Court) by law and available only by order of Court.
Fee Schedule
Attention: For initial filings, the JCP fee will be reduced to $19.00, effective August 1, 2023, until further notice. Please adjust your filing fees in the Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans Court accordingly. Please contact our office if you have any questions.
***As AOPC advised last July, the temporary surcharge portion of the Judicial Computer Project/Access to Justice /Criminal Justice Enhancement /Office of Attorney General (JCP/ATJ/CJEA/OAG) fee that was authorized in Section 1795.1-E of The Fiscal Code, 72 P.S. § 1795.1-E, is set to expire on August 1, 2023. As a result, unless reauthorized this month, this temporary surcharge of $21.25 on all cases would no longer be collected. This means instead of collecting a fee of $40.25, the correct fee would be $19.00 for all cases as of August 1st.
- Download the latest fee schedule for Register of Wills.
Forms
Opening an Estate
Many state forms may be found on the PA Courts site in an up-to-date PDF format. http://www.pacourts.us/forms/for-the-public/orphans-court-forms
- Rev-346 – Estate Information Sheet – PA Department of Revenue
- RW 02 – Petition for Grant of Letters – PA Courts
- RW 06 – Renunciation (Effective 01-01-2020) – PA Courts
- RW 03 – Oath of Subscribing Witness(es) (Effective 01-01-2020) – PA Courts
- RW 04 – Oath of Non-subscribing Witness(es) (Effective 01-01-2020) – PA Courts
Inheritance Tax
- Inheritance tax forms for Pennsylvania including the inheritance tax form may be found on the PA Department of Revenue.
- Inheritance Tax Prepayment Form – PA Department of Revenue
Other Forms
- RW 09 – Inventory (Effective 01-01-2020) – PA Courts
- Small Estate Affidavit