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
On Monday March 3, 2025, the Erie County Register of Wills transitioned to a new case management system. Paperless Solution CourtPro case management system will provide our office and its users a fully integrated case management/document filing system. No Court filings or docket entries will be added into the INFOCON system after March 3, 2025.
On or after March 3, 2025, please go to https://courtpro.eriecountypa.gov for public access to Register of Wills, Orphans’ Court and Marriage Bureau records. If you already have an account with the Erie County Prothonotary CourtPro system, you will not have to register again. The records from the Prothonotary, Register of Wills, Orphans’ Court and Marriage Bureau will all be available at one on-line location.
- 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