How Can an Estate Administrator be Appointed in Pennsylvania?

Posted by Mike In Probate 0 comment

How Can an Estate Administrator be Appointed in Pennsylvania?

 

A will is an important document which directs who receives the deceased’s money and property at death. But a will also states who will serve as the personal representative of the estate to handle the legal and financial matters.

 

If the deceased died without a will, an estate representative called an administrator/ administratrix must be appointed. The process below describes the guidelines and process for appointment of an administrator.

 

 

How is an Administrator Appointed?

 

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What are Letters Testamentary and Letters of Administration?

Posted by Mike In Estate Properties, Investment, Probate 0 comment

What are Letters Testamentary?

 

When a loved one passes away, an estate must usually be raised for the deceased person. An estate stands in place of the deceased so that the legal and financial affairs can be administered after death.

 

Letters Testamentary is the authorizing document issued by the Register of Wills appointing a representative. This representative is called the executor/ executrix. Letters Testamentary allows the estate representative to gather all of the deceased’s assets such as personal property, bank accounts and other assets to pay liabilities and make inheritance distribution.

 

Letters Testamentary are only issued when the deceased person left a will deciding who will handle the estate.

 

 

What are Letters of Administration?

 

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What Happens to Inheritance Property When the Deceased was a Co-Owner?

Posted by Mike In Partitions, Probate 0 comment

What Happens to Inheritance Property When the Deceased was a Co-Owner?

 

How is real estate distributed when a person dies as a co-owner?

 

Real estate that was owned by a deceased loved one passes by the terms of the will or by Pennsylvania’s intestacy law. An ordinary transfer to the heirs become complicated if the deceased owned only a partial interest in the property. These situations arise when the deceased was part-owner with a friend, another family member, or business partner.

 

The deceased cannot transfer a greater share than what they owned at death. What the heirs receive, if anything, depends on how the property was titled before death.

 

 

What do the deceased’s heirs receive?

 

The question of what inheritance rights pass to the heirs depends on the deed. If the deceased was a co-owner with a spouse and the property was held as “tenants by the entirety”, then the entire property remains the property of the surviving spouse. This type of deed arrangement is only available in Pennsylvania to spouses.

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