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 55 or older, before distributing any assets: Notify the PA Department of Human Services under 62 P.S. § 1412(b) and request a statement of claim for Medicaid estate recovery, even if you believe no Medicaid 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 formal account with the Clerk of Orphans' Court, accompanied by a Petition for Adjudication and Statement of Proposed Distribution.