Bucks County Probate Process: Step-by-Step

The Bucks County Probate Timeline

Ten steps from death to closing the estate. The dates in red are the ones that carry consequences, and most of them run from the grant of letters or the date of death, not from when you get around to it.

1. 1
   File the will, request letters Days after death

   Present the original will and death certificate to the Register of Wills and petition for letters. No statutory deadline, but everything downstream waits on this.

2. 2
   Letters granted Same day to 2 weeks

   The Register issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration. Get an EIN and open an estate account.

3. 3
   Advertise the grant of letters Immediately

   Notice runs once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation and in the county legal periodical. This starts the creditor clock.

   20 Pa.C.S. § 3162(a)

4. 4
   Notify beneficiaries and heirs 3 months from letters

   Written notice of estate administration goes to will beneficiaries, the spouse and children, and intestate heirs. The clock runs from the grant of letters, not the date of death.

   Pa. O.C. Rule 10.5(a)

5. 5
   File certification of notice 10 days after notice

   Certify to the Register that notice was given. Miss it and the Register reports the delinquency to the court.

   Pa. O.C. Rule 10.5(d)

6. 6
   Prepay tax for the 5% discount 3 months from death

   Optional. Paying inheritance tax within three months of death earns a 5% discount. The tax is legally due at the date of death.

   72 P.S. § 9142

7. 7
   File the inventory With the tax return

   Due no later than the account filing or the inheritance tax return due date including any extension, whichever is earlier. A party in interest can force it sooner.

   20 Pa.C.S. § 3301(c)

8. 8
   File the inheritance tax return 9 months from death

   File the REV-1500 and pay. A six-month filing extension is available if requested before the nine months run, but the tax still goes delinquent at nine months.

   72 P.S. §§ 9136(d), 9142

9. 9
   Creditor claim bar closes 1 year

   One year after the first complete advertisement, the personal representative may distribute at his own risk without liability to unknown claimants.

   20 Pa.C.S. § 3532(a)

10. 10
    Status report, then close 2 years, if still open

    If administration is not complete at two years from death, file a status report and annually after that. Close by formal account or a family settlement agreement.

    Pa. O.C. Rule 10.6(a)

General guidance only, not legal advice. Timing varies with the estate. Real estate, a tax audit, a contested claim, or a disagreement among beneficiaries will all stretch this out. Several deadlines here create personal liability for the executor if missed.