Required Filings & Deadlines in Bucks County

Immediately after grant of letters: Publish estate notice once a week for 3 consecutive weeks in the Bucks County Law Reporter AND a local paper of general circulation (20 Pa.C.S. § 3162). The first complete advertisement triggers the one-year creditor claims period.

For a decedent who reached age 55, before distributing: Find out whether the decedent received Medical Assistance in the five years before death and, if so, notify the PA Department of Human Services and request a statement of claim (62 P.S. § 1412(b)). Many practitioners send the notice in every such estate, even when they believe no benefits were received. DHS has 45 days from a complete notice to respond, and distributing assets before that response exposes the personal representative to personal liability. See our Medicaid Estate Recovery: Notice to DHS guide.

Two-step notice deadline under Pa.O.C. Rule 10.5: Within 3 months of the grant of letters, the personal representative must send written notice to all beneficiaries, heirs, and other required parties (Rule 10.5(a)). The Certification of Notice must then be filed with the Register within 10 days after giving that notice (Rule 10.5(d)). Failure to file timely triggers the Register's mandatory court notification (Rule 10.5(e)).

Within 3 months of death: Consider prepaying estimated inheritance tax to capture the 5% discount, a significant savings on larger estates.

With the inheritance tax return, or earlier: File the verified Inventory (Form RW-09) with the Register of Wills. It is due no later than the date you file the account or the inheritance tax return due date including any extension, whichever is earlier, so a six-month extension can carry it past nine months. A party in interest can force it sooner: within three months after your appointment or 30 days after the request, whichever is later (20 Pa.C.S. § 3301(c)).

Within 9 months of death: File the PA Inheritance Tax Return (REV-1500) and pay all tax due.

2 years from date of death: File Status Report under Pa.O.C. Rule 10.6. If the estate remains open, file annually thereafter.

When ready to close: File the Rule 10.6 status report showing that administration is complete. If you close with a formal account instead of informally, file the account with the Clerk of the Orphans' Court with a Petition for Adjudication and Statement of Proposed Distribution.