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Berks County, PA Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Current rules |
|---|---|
| Where probate begins | The Berks County Register of Wills, at the Berks County Services Center, 633 Court Street, 2nd Floor, Reading: this is where the original will is filed, the Petition for Grant of Letters is presented, letters testamentary or of administration are issued, short certificates are obtained, and the Pennsylvania inheritance-tax return (REV-1500) is filed |
| Who supervises administration | The Berks County Orphans' Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas (23rd Judicial District), which handles inventories, accounts, distributions, guardianships, and disputes. In Berks the elected Register of Wills is also the Clerk of the Orphans' Court, so both the grant of letters and the later administration filings are handled through the same office at 633 Court Street |
| Filing office | Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court, Berks County Services Center, 633 Court Street, 2nd Floor, Reading, PA 19601 |
| Phone | (610) 478-6600 |
| Fax | (610) 478-6251 |
| [email protected] | |
| Hours | Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; closed weekends and county holidays |
| Filing fee | Register of Wills probate fees are set by Berks County and graduated by the value of the estate, from $30 for an estate under $2,500 to $250 for an estate of $75,001 to $100,000, plus $125 for each additional $100,000, and the county adds a $41.25 Pennsylvania Judicial Computer Project fee and a $17.50 Record Improvement Fund fee, itemized separately, on top (42 P.S. § 21022.1; Berks County Bill of Costs of the Register of Wills, effective December 1, 2025, verified July 2026). A short certificate is $10.00. Confirm the current schedule with the Register of Wills |
| Local forms | Pennsylvania uses one statewide Register of Wills and Orphans' Court form set (published on pacourts.us), including Form RW-02 (Petition for Grant of Letters) and Form RW-09 (Inventory). Berks also requires a completed estate information sheet (Pennsylvania Department of Revenue Form REV-346, linked on the county forms list) with the probate packet, and publishes a Berks County small-estates affidavit. The small-estate petition (20 Pa.C.S. § 3102) is filed with the Orphans' Court division |
| E-filing | None. The Berks County Register of Wills does not offer electronic filing; wet original signatures are required on all documents, and Orphans' Court filings must carry an original signature in blue ink. Probate is conducted virtually by scheduled appointment over Microsoft Teams, with the original documents and payment submitted to the office after the appointment |
| Case search | The statewide court case search is the UJS Portal at ujsportal.pacourts.us/CaseSearch (Register of Wills and Orphans' Court estate-record coverage varies by county). Berks also runs its own online Register of Wills estate-records and genealogy research system covering estate files from 1995 to the present |
| Remote appearance | Probate appointments are held virtually over Microsoft Teams. The required documents are submitted to the office for review first; the appointment is then scheduled through the county's online booking link, the petitioner appears remotely, and the original signed documents and payment follow |
| Website | https://www.berkspa.gov/departments/register-of-wills |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
The first Berks County question is which path fits the estate, and then how the office wants it presented. Pennsylvania probate begins at the Register of Wills, where the will is admitted and letters are granted; the Orphans' Court Division then supervises the administration, and in Berks both are handled through the same combined office. A qualifying small estate can instead be settled on a petition to the Orphans' Court division (20 Pa.C.S. § 3102), and some assets pass without any grant of letters at all (20 Pa.C.S. § 3101). The statewide thresholds and paths are covered on the Pennsylvania state page. A jointly owned Reading home or a beneficiary-designated account often passes outside the estate, so the estate that actually goes through probate can be smaller than the family expects.
Before you schedule the probate appointment, identify every bank, credit-union, brokerage, and retirement account, life-insurance policy, business interest, and parcel of Berks County real estate, along with every debt, and identify each heir by name. Only then can you pick the right path, calculate the correct county filing fee, and decide whether counsel is needed. Sunset's asset-discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for this step.
Which court handles jurisdiction
The Berks County Register of Wills and the Berks County Orphans' Court Division serve all of Berks County, in southeastern Pennsylvania. The county seat is Reading, and the county takes in communities including Wyomissing, Sinking Spring, Kutztown, Boyertown, Hamburg, Fleetwood, Wernersville, Shillington, West Reading, Birdsboro, Muhlenberg Township, Exeter Township, Spring Township, and the county's many boroughs and townships. Under Pennsylvania's venue rule in Title 20 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes (20 Pa.C.S.), letters are granted only by the register of the county where the decedent had a last family or principal residence (20 Pa.C.S. § 3151). A decedent who lived anywhere in Berks County has the estate opened here, regardless of which municipality within the county the person lived in.
Berks County is a single-county judicial district, the 23rd Judicial District, so the county keeps its own Register of Wills and its own Orphans' Court Division; you file in Berks County, not "in the district." Because the elected Register of Wills is also the Clerk of the Orphans' Court, both the grant of letters and the later administration filings are lodged with the same office at the Berks County Services Center, 633 Court Street, 2nd Floor, in Reading, and contested matters and audits are heard before the Orphans' Court Division judges of the Court of Common Pleas.
The jurisdiction process
- Confirm venue. Berks County is the right county when the decedent had a last family or principal residence here at death (20 Pa.C.S. § 3151). The estate is opened with the Berks County Register of Wills regardless of which municipality within the county the person lived in.
- Choose the path and the form. With a will, the named executor presents the original will and Form RW-02 (Petition for Grant of Letters) and the Register issues letters testamentary; with no will, an eligible person petitions on Form RW-02 and the Register issues letters of administration in the priority order set by 20 Pa.C.S. § 3155. A qualifying small estate can instead be settled on a petition to the Orphans' Court division (20 Pa.C.S. § 3102). The statewide paths and thresholds are on the Pennsylvania state page.
- Gather what the Register needs: the original will (if any), a certified death certificate, a photo ID, a completed estate information sheet (Pennsylvania Department of Revenue Form REV-346), an estimate of the estate's assets and debts, and the names and addresses of the heirs. For a will without a self-proving acknowledgment, the witnesses must swear to the decedent's signature; a person with priority who declines to serve files a renunciation (Form RW-06). The office has no electronic filing, so all documents require wet original signatures.
- Submit the documents for review, then attend the virtual probate appointment. Send the required documentation to the Register of Wills by email to [email protected], by mail, or by drop-off at 633 Court Street, 2nd Floor; the office reviews it, assigns a file number, and sets the fees, and only then is the appointment scheduled through the county's online booking link. Appointments are conducted over Microsoft Teams and require a device with a camera and microphone; an appointment is cancelled if the required documents were not submitted for review first. After the personal representative is sworn in, the original signed documents and payment are mailed or dropped off, and the office issues the grant of letters and short certificates. Office hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; questions go to (610) 478-6600.
- Pay the county filing fee. Berks's Register of Wills grant-of-letters fee is graduated by the value of the estate under the county's Bill of Costs, from $30 for an estate under $2,500 up to $250 for an estate of $75,001 to $100,000, plus $125 for each additional $100,000; the county adds a $41.25 Pennsylvania Judicial Computer Project fee and a $17.50 Record Improvement Fund fee, itemized separately, on top (42 P.S. § 21022.1; Berks County Bill of Costs of the Register of Wills, effective December 1, 2025, verified July 2026). Obtain short certificates, the certified proof of your authority that banks and transfer agents rely on, at $10.00 each.
- Advertise the grant of letters. Immediately after letters are granted, advertise the grant once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation near the decedent's residence and in the Berks County Law Journal, the county legal periodical designated for estate notices, requesting that creditors present claims (20 Pa.C.S. § 3162). Creditors generally have one year from the first complete advertisement to present claims (20 Pa.C.S. § 3532).
- File the Pennsylvania inheritance-tax return. File the REV-1500 (resident decedent) with the Register of Wills, which charges $15.00 to file the original return. Pennsylvania inheritance tax is keyed to the beneficiary's relationship to the decedent, becomes delinquent nine months after death, and a 5% discount is allowed on tax paid within three months of death. The rate detail is on the Pennsylvania state page.
- File the inventory. File a verified inventory of the estate's real and personal property with the Register on Form RW-09, due no later than the earlier of the account filing or the inheritance-tax return due date (20 Pa.C.S. § 3301); an interested party may demand it sooner. Berks charges $15.00 to file the original inventory.
- Administer and close. Collect the assets, pay valid claims and taxes, and account to the interested parties. Accounts, petitions for distribution, and any contested matter are filed with the Clerk of the Orphans' Court and heard by the Orphans' Court Division; a personal representative who distributes is protected from a claim not made known within one year after the first complete advertisement of the grant of letters (20 Pa.C.S. § 3532).
Forms and documents
Probate forms in Berks County
Pennsylvania uses one statewide Register of Wills and Orphans' Court form set, and Berks County files the same set as every other county. The load-bearing filings are Form RW-02, the Petition for Grant of Letters, used with or without a will; Form RW-06, the Renunciation, where a person with priority declines to serve; and Form RW-09, the Inventory. The Orphans' Court account and distribution filings use the statewide OC-series forms. These are published centrally on the Unified Judicial System forms hub at pacourts.us/forms/for-the-public/orphans-court-forms.
Berks posts fillable versions of the core papers on its own site, including the Petition for Grant of Letters, the Renunciation, the Inventory, and the witness oaths, and the office requires a completed estate information sheet, Pennsylvania Department of Revenue Form REV-346, with the probate packet. It also publishes a Berks County small-estates affidavit (berkspa.gov, Register of Wills). The small-estate petition for settlement under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3102 is filed with the Orphans' Court division rather than presented as a numbered statewide RW form. Because Berks has no electronic filing, every form must carry a wet original signature, and the completed documents are submitted to the Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court at 633 Court Street, 2nd Floor, in Reading.
Fees
Pennsylvania sets probate filing fees per county, and Berks County publishes its own fees in a Bill of Costs of the Register of Wills and a companion Bill of Costs of the Orphans' Court, both most recently reset effective December 1, 2025, under 42 P.S. § 21022.1. The grant-of-letters fee is graduated on Table "A" by the value of the estate, and the county adds two statewide-authorized charges, a $41.25 Pennsylvania Judicial Computer Project fee and a $17.50 Record Improvement Fund fee, itemized separately on top of the base fee. Confirm the current schedule before you file; each figure below carries its source.
| Item | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Grant of letters, estate under $2,500 | $30.00 | The minimum Table "A" grant-of-letters fee; letters testamentary and letters of administration both follow Table "A" (Berks County Bill of Costs of the Register of Wills, effective December 1, 2025, verified July 2026) |
| Grant of letters, estate $25,001 to $50,000 | $130.00 | A mid-range Table "A" tier; the fee rises in steps with the value of the estate (Berks County Bill of Costs of the Register of Wills, effective December 1, 2025, verified July 2026) |
| Grant of letters, estate $75,001 to $100,000 | $250.00 | The top listed Table "A" tier, then $125 for each additional $100,000 or fraction (Berks County Bill of Costs of the Register of Wills, effective December 1, 2025, verified July 2026) |
| Pennsylvania Judicial Computer Project fee | $41.25 | Added to the grant of letters, itemized separately on the schedule (Berks County Bill of Costs of the Register of Wills, effective December 1, 2025, verified July 2026) |
| Record Improvement Fund fee | $17.50 | Added to the grant of letters, itemized separately on the schedule; Berks lists this $17.50 fee in place of the $14.75 automation fee that appears on some other counties' schedules (Berks County Bill of Costs of the Register of Wills, effective December 1, 2025, verified July 2026) |
| Short certificate | $10.00 | The certified proof of the personal representative's authority, charged per copy (Berks County Bill of Costs of the Register of Wills, effective December 1, 2025, verified July 2026) |
| Renunciation, filing | $10.00 | Filing Form RW-06 where a person with priority declines to serve (Berks County Bill of Costs of the Register of Wills, effective December 1, 2025, verified July 2026) |
| Inheritance-tax return, filing original | $15.00 | Charged when the REV-1500 original return is filed with the Register (Berks County Bill of Costs of the Register of Wills, effective December 1, 2025, verified July 2026) |
| Inventory, filing original | $15.00 | Charged when the Form RW-09 original inventory is filed (Berks County Bill of Costs of the Register of Wills, effective December 1, 2025, verified July 2026) |
| Petition and proposed order of Register | $45.00 | For a petition filed with the Register and its proposed order (Berks County Bill of Costs of the Register of Wills, effective December 1, 2025, verified July 2026) |
| Small-estate petition, Orphans' Court | $45.00 | Petition and order for settlement of a small estate (20 Pa.C.S. § 3102), plus the $41.25 Pennsylvania Judicial Computer Project fee and the $17.50 Record Improvement Fund fee (Berks County Bill of Costs of the Orphans' Court, effective December 1, 2025, verified July 2026) |
| Appeal to Orphans' Court | $50.00 | For an appeal from the Register to the Orphans' Court Division (Berks County Bill of Costs of the Register of Wills, effective December 1, 2025, verified July 2026) |
Local nuance
Berks County-specific considerations
One combined office handles both functions. In Berks County the elected Register of Wills is also the Clerk of the Orphans' Court, so a single office at the Berks County Services Center, 633 Court Street, 2nd Floor, in Reading, handles both the grant of letters and the later administration filings. The Register of Wills admits the will and grants letters; the same office, acting as Clerk of the Orphans' Court, keeps the docket for inventories, accounts, guardianships, and disputes that go before the Orphans' Court Division judges of the 23rd Judicial District.
Probate is virtual, by appointment. Berks conducts probate proceedings virtually by scheduled appointment over Microsoft Teams. You submit the required documents to the Register of Wills for review first, by email, mail, or drop-off; the office assigns a file number and sets the fees, you schedule the appointment through the county's online booking link, appear remotely, and then submit the original signed documents and payment. Physical presence for the appointment is not required, but the paperwork and fee still have to reach the office.
There is no electronic filing, and signatures must be wet. The Berks County Register of Wills does not offer electronic filing. Every document must carry a wet original signature, so probate papers cannot be finalized by e-signature or emailed as the filed copy. For Orphans' Court filings the office instructs that every filed document carry an original signature in blue ink, and asks that originals not be stapled, for easier scanning (berkspa.gov, Orphans' Court, verified July 2026). Plan to deliver or mail the originals to 633 Court Street, 2nd Floor, Reading, PA 19601.
The Register of Wills fees were reset in December 2025. A new Bill of Costs of the Register of Wills took effect December 1, 2025, superseding the county's prior schedule. The grant-of-letters fee is graduated by estate value on Table "A", from $30 to $250 plus $125 for each additional $100,000, with a $41.25 Pennsylvania Judicial Computer Project fee and a $17.50 Record Improvement Fund fee added on top. Any older Berks fee figure, including a flat $25, is out of date.
Recent updates
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| December 1, 2025 | A new Bill of Costs of the Register of Wills took effect in Berks County (42 P.S. § 21022.1), with a companion Bill of Costs of the Orphans' Court, superseding the prior schedules. The grant-of-letters fee is graduated by estate value on Table "A" ($30 to $250, plus $125 for each additional $100,000), with a $41.25 Pennsylvania Judicial Computer Project fee and a $17.50 Record Improvement Fund fee added on top (source: Berks County Bill of Costs of the Register of Wills, verified July 2026). |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Berks County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | A Reading-area home held by the spouses as tenants by the entirety, or jointly with right of survivorship, generally passes to the surviving spouse outside the estate; the survivor clears title with the county. Accounts and property in the decedent's sole name may still need a grant of letters, opened with the Berks County Register of Wills on Form RW-02 at a virtual probate appointment, with letters testamentary if there is a will or letters of administration if there is not. | Asset discovery to separate survivorship property from sole-name assets. Packet generation for the Form RW-02 petition and the supporting documents. A vetted Berks County probate attorney if the estate is contested or complex. |
| Out-of-state adult child, small estate | If the parent lived in Berks County and left a qualifying small estate, the child can settle it on a petition to the Orphans' Court division (20 Pa.C.S. § 3102) rather than a full grant of letters; some assets can pass without any letters at all (20 Pa.C.S. § 3101). A larger estate is opened with the Register of Wills on Form RW-02. Berks probate appointments are held virtually over Microsoft Teams, though the original signed documents and payment must still reach the office. | Asset discovery to confirm the estate fits the small-estate path and holds no complicating real property. Packet generation for the small-estate petition or the Form RW-02 grant of letters. Attorney referral if the estate turns out to be larger or contested. |
| Parent settling a predeceased child's estate, home must be sold | A grant of letters at the Berks County Register of Wills. Because there is no will, the parent petitions for letters of administration (Form RW-02), with priority set by 20 Pa.C.S. § 3155, then advertises the grant in the Berks County Law Journal and a local newspaper (20 Pa.C.S. § 3162), files the inventory (Form RW-09), and settles the Pennsylvania inheritance tax. The administrator obtains the authority to sell the child's Berks County real estate; a contested step is heard by the Orphans' Court Division. | Asset discovery for the child's accounts and property. Packet generation for the administration petition, the inventory, and the sale papers. A vetted Berks County probate attorney to run the administration and any contested step. |
Self-help resources
| Resource | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Berks County Register of Wills (berkspa.gov/departments/register-of-wills) | The office pages for the Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court: address, hours, the probate and estates process, the fee schedules, the estate information sheet (Form REV-346), and the small-estates affidavit |
| Berks County Orphans' Court (berkspa.gov/departments/register-of-wills/orphans-court) | The Orphans' Court Division information for the 23rd Judicial District: administration, accounts, guardianships, and adoptions handled through the Clerk of the Orphans' Court |
| Unified Judicial System forms and self-help (pacourts.us/forms/for-the-public/orphans-court-forms and pacourts.us/learn) | The statewide Register of Wills and Orphans' Court forms, including Form RW-02 and Form RW-09, and plain-language help with representing yourself |
| UJS Portal case search (ujsportal.pacourts.us/CaseSearch) | The statewide court case search; Register of Wills and Orphans' Court estate-record coverage varies by county |
| Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, Inheritance Tax (pa.gov/agencies/revenue) | The inheritance-tax rates, the REV-1500 return, the nine-month deadline, and the three-month early-payment discount |
| MidPenn Legal Services, Reading office (midpenn.org, intake 1-800-326-9177) | Free civil legal help for income-eligible Berks County residents; MidPenn serves Berks and 17 other central Pennsylvania counties |
| Berks County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service (berksbar.org, (610) 375-4591) | Referral to a qualified Berks County attorney; the bar association also publishes the Berks County Law Journal used for estate notices |
| PALawHELP (palawhelp.org) | Plain-language legal information and legal-aid routing statewide |
When to hire an attorney
Pennsylvania does not require an attorney to open a probate estate, and many uncontested Berks County estates are handled with the statewide forms and the Register of Wills. Counsel makes sense when a will is contested or an appeal is taken from the Register to the Orphans' Court Division; when the estate is large, taxable, or holds a business interest or out-of-state property; when Berks County real estate must be sold and the terms are disputed; when the heirs are unknown or in conflict; or when a formal accounting or a dispute over the personal representative is filed. Because Berks conducts probate virtually and requires wet-signed originals with no electronic filing, an attorney can also help a family that cannot easily reach Reading manage the paperwork. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Berks County probate attorney when the situation calls for counsel.
How Sunset helps
Find the accounts and assets. Sunset searches more than 2,300 financial institutions and public records to surface bank and credit-union accounts, retirement plans, brokerage holdings, life insurance, Berks County real estate, business interests, and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value and can pick the right Pennsylvania path for estate settlement before you file.
Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the Berks County filing: the Petition for Grant of Letters (Form RW-02), the inventory (Form RW-09), and the supporting documents from Pennsylvania's statewide set, or the small-estate petition where the estate qualifies, ready for the county's virtual probate appointment and its wet-signature requirement.
Find a local probate attorney. When an estate is contested, taxable, or otherwise calls for counsel, Sunset connects families to a vetted Berks County probate attorney to file and appear.
Sunset is free for families. Revenue comes from bank partners that pay Sunset while estate funds sit in an FDIC-insured estate account ($3M coverage).
Frequently asked questions
Where do I file probate in Berks County, Pennsylvania?
Probate begins with the Berks County Register of Wills, at the Berks County Services Center, 633 Court Street, 2nd Floor, Reading, PA 19601, (610) 478-6600. That is where the original will is filed, the Petition for Grant of Letters (Form RW-02) is presented, and letters are issued. Because the Register of Wills is also the Clerk of the Orphans' Court in Berks, the same office keeps the later administration filings that go before the Orphans' Court Division of the 23rd Judicial District.
Can I e-file a probate in Berks County?
No. The Berks County Register of Wills does not offer electronic filing, and every document must carry a wet original signature; for Orphans' Court filings the office requires an original signature in blue ink. Probate is conducted virtually by scheduled appointment over Microsoft Teams: you submit the required documents to the office for review first, then schedule, and after the appointment the original signed documents and payment are submitted to the office. The statewide UJS Portal is available for case search only, not for filing here.
How much does it cost to open a probate estate in Berks County?
Berks's Register of Wills grant-of-letters fee is set by the county and graduated by the value of the estate, from $30 for an estate under $2,500 up to $250 for an estate of $75,001 to $100,000, plus $125 for each additional $100,000; the county adds a $41.25 Pennsylvania Judicial Computer Project fee and a $17.50 Record Improvement Fund fee on top, itemized separately (Berks County Bill of Costs of the Register of Wills, effective December 1, 2025, verified July 2026). A short certificate is $10.00. Any older flat figure, such as $25, is out of date.
What are the Berks County Register of Wills hours?
The Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court office is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and is closed on weekends and county holidays. Because probate is by scheduled virtual appointment, contact the office at (610) 478-6600 or [email protected] to schedule before relying on a walk-in visit.
How do I look up a Berks County estate or probate record?
The statewide UJS Portal at ujsportal.pacourts.us/CaseSearch is the general court case search, though its Register of Wills and Orphans' Court estate-record coverage varies by county. Berks also runs its own online Register of Wills estate-records and genealogy research system from the county site, with estate files from 1995 to the present; viewing files online is free, and downloads cost $0.50 per page plus a $3.00 transaction fee (berkspa.gov, verified July 2026). For a certified record, the Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court holds the official file at 633 Court Street.
What forms do I use for a Berks County estate?
Pennsylvania's statewide Register of Wills and Orphans' Court forms, the same set used in every county. The core filings are Form RW-02 (Petition for Grant of Letters) and Form RW-09 (Inventory), published on pacourts.us/forms/for-the-public/orphans-court-forms; Berks posts fillable versions of the core papers on the county site. Berks also requires a completed estate information sheet (Pennsylvania Department of Revenue Form REV-346) with the probate packet and publishes a small-estates affidavit; the small-estate petition (20 Pa.C.S. § 3102) is filed with the Orphans' Court division.
Do I have to appear in person to open probate in Berks County?
Berks holds probate appointments virtually over Microsoft Teams, so you do not have to appear in person for the appointment itself. You submit the required documents to the office for review before the appointment can be scheduled, and you do have to get the original wet-signed documents and payment to the office afterward, because there is no electronic filing. Contact the Register of Wills at (610) 478-6600 to confirm what your matter requires.
Where do I advertise the grant of letters in Berks County?
After letters are granted you advertise the grant once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation near the decedent's residence and in the Berks County Law Journal, the county legal periodical the Berks County Bar Association publishes for estate notices (20 Pa.C.S. § 3162). This starts the one-year creditor-claim period measured from the first complete advertisement (20 Pa.C.S. § 3532).
Does Berks County charge inheritance tax, and where do I file the return?
Pennsylvania has a state inheritance tax keyed to the beneficiary's relationship to the decedent, and it applies to Berks County estates. The REV-1500 resident return is filed with the Register of Wills, which charges $15.00 to file the original return. The tax becomes delinquent nine months after death, with a 5% discount for tax paid within three months. The rate detail is on the Pennsylvania state page.
How do I handle a small estate in Berks County?
A qualifying small estate can be settled on a petition to the Orphans' Court division under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3102 rather than a full grant of letters, and some assets can be released without any letters at all under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3101. Berks publishes a small-estates affidavit on the county site; the statewide thresholds are covered on the Pennsylvania state page.
Shaped by the families we've helped
Thank you to the thousands of families who have trusted Sunset to help settle their loved ones' estates. This page is shaped by the questions they actually asked and the obstacles they actually hit — and that hard-won experience is what keeps it accurate, current, and genuinely useful to the families who come next.