What Probate Really Costs in Pennsylvania: The Number Your Family Needs to Know

There is a widespread belief that if you have a will, your family will not have to go through probate. This belief is wrong. A will does not prevent probate. It is simply a set of instructions that tells the probate court what you wanted. Probate still opens. The process still takes time. The fees still apply. And in Pennsylvania, those fees can be significant.

What Probate Actually Is

Probate is the court-supervised legal process of transferring a deceased person's assets to their heirs. When someone dies owning property in their name alone — a house, a bank account, a brokerage account — that property cannot simply be handed over to heirs. The court must first verify the will (if there is one), identify and pay any debts, and then authorize the transfer to beneficiaries.

The process is not inherently corrupt or adversarial. It exists to protect creditors and to verify that transfers are legitimate. But it is slow, it costs money, and it is public — meaning your estate's contents and your beneficiaries' names become part of the public court record.

In Pennsylvania, a typical uncontested probate case takes 12–18 months from the date of filing to final close. That is time during which your family may have limited access to estate assets.

What Probate Costs in Pennsylvania

Attorney fees in Pennsylvania are calculated as follows: statutory percentage of gross estate value, set by California Probate Code §§ 10810–10811. Both the attorney and the executor (personal representative) are each entitled to the same statutory fee — meaning the total cost is typically double the rates shown below.

Note that these fees are calculated on the gross value of the estate, not the net. If you own a home worth $800,000 with a $400,000 mortgage, Pennsylvania probate fees are calculated on the full $800,000, not the $400,000 in actual equity. On an $800,000 gross estate, combined statutory fees exceed $38,000 before any additional costs.

The Small Estate Exception

Most states have a simplified process for smaller estates — a way to transfer assets without going through full probate. In Pennsylvania, simplified procedures are available for estates valued under $184,500 in personal property (2025 threshold).

The simplified process in Pennsylvania — called a small estate affidavit or summary administration — is faster and less expensive than formal probate. But it has limits: it generally does not cover real estate, it requires a 40-day waiting period after death, and it may not work if there are disputes among heirs. If your estate is close to the threshold, it is worth understanding which of your assets fall within it and which require full probate.

What Avoids Probate in Pennsylvania

Not all assets go through probate. Assets that pass through a named beneficiary designation or a co-ownership structure bypass the probate process entirely. The most common non-probate transfer tools are:

• Beneficiary designations. Retirement accounts (401(k)s, IRAs), life insurance policies, and annuities pass directly to named beneficiaries outside of probate. The beneficiary form — not the will — controls who gets these assets. This is true regardless of what the will says.
• Joint tenancy with right of survivorship. Property owned jointly automatically passes to the surviving owner at death without probate.
• Transfer-on-Death (TOD) designations. Bank and brokerage accounts can have a TOD designation added. In Pennsylvania, TOD designations for real estate — called Revocable Transfer on Death Deeds — are available and were made permanent by AB 1301 (2022).
• Revocable living trusts. Property held in a properly funded revocable living trust passes outside of probate. This is the most comprehensive probate avoidance strategy but requires ongoing administration during your lifetime.

Understanding which of your assets are and are not subject to probate in Pennsylvania is one of the most practical things a person can do in retirement planning.