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Dauphin County, PA Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Current rules |
|---|---|
| Where probate begins | The Dauphin County Register of Wills, at Room 103 of the Dauphin County Courthouse: this is where the original will is filed, the Petition for Grant of Letters is presented, letters testamentary or of administration are issued, and the Pennsylvania inheritance-tax return (REV-1500) is filed |
| Who supervises administration | The Dauphin County Orphans' Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas (Twelfth Judicial District), which handles inventories, accounts, distributions, guardianships, trusts, and disputes; the filing office is the Clerk of the Orphans' Court, held by the same elected officer as the Register of Wills |
| Filing office | Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court, Dauphin County Courthouse, 101 Market Street, Room 103, Harrisburg, PA 17101. A branch office operates at the Northern Dauphin Human Services Center, 295 State Drive, Elizabethville, PA 17023, first and third Wednesdays only, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., (717) 905-2700 ext. 2507 |
| Phone | (717) 780-6500; fax (717) 780-6474 |
| Hours | Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; transactions involving payment must be completed by 4:00 p.m., and appointments are required for certain in-person services. Closed weekends and county holidays |
| Filing fee | Register of Wills probate fees are set by Dauphin County and graduated by the gross estimated value of the estate, from $121.00 for an estate of $1,000 or less to $1,251.00 for an estate of $900,000.01 to $1,000,000, then $250.00 for each additional $100,000 or fraction up to $20 million; the listed amount includes the filing fee for the tax return, inventory, and death certificate. The Judicial Computer System (JCS) fee of $41.25 and the Automation/Computerization fee of $20.75 are listed as separate line items on the county schedule (42 P.S. § 21022.1). A short certificate is $10.00. Confirm the current schedule with the Register of Wills (Dauphin County Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court Bill of Costs, effective January 1, 2024, verified July 2026) |
| 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). Dauphin County publishes a small-estate affidavit form for the settlement of a small estate (20 Pa.C.S. § 3102) on its online-forms page |
| E-filing | Dauphin County was the first Pennsylvania county to launch virtual probate (March 2020) and offers e-filing for new and existing cases (certain filings, including formal accounts and adoption filings, must still be filed in paper). Opening probate involves a video conference in which the petitioner takes the oath and signs the Petition for Grant of Letters on camera, after which the original documents and payment are dropped at the Market Street entrance of the courthouse or mailed to Room 103. Confirm the current requirements for your matter with the office |
| Case search | The county's own OCR Cloud Search retrieves Dauphin County estate, marriage, and Orphans' Court records; 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) |
| Remote appearance | Probate can be opened remotely by video conference through the county's virtual-probate system; hearing formats before the Orphans' Court Division are set by the court, so confirm any remote option before a scheduled date |
| Website | https://www.dauphincounty.gov/government/publicly-elected-officials/register-of-wills-clerk-of-orphans-court |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
The first Dauphin County question is which path fits the estate. 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. In Dauphin County both functions sit with the same elected officer at Room 103 of the courthouse. 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 Harrisburg-area 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 file, identify every bank, credit-union, brokerage, and retirement account, life-insurance policy, business interest, and parcel of Dauphin 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, which in Dauphin is graduated by the estate's value, 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 Dauphin County Register of Wills and the Dauphin County Orphans' Court Division serve all of Dauphin County. The county seat is Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania state capital, and the county also takes in Hershey and the rest of Derry Township, Middletown, Steelton, Hummelstown, Millersburg, Elizabethville, Lykens, Halifax, Highspire, Paxtang, Penbrook, and the large suburban townships of Lower Paxton, Susquehanna, Swatara, and Derry, along with the county's many other 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 Dauphin County has the estate opened here, regardless of which municipality within the county the person lived in.
Dauphin County is its own Twelfth Judicial District. Because a single elected officer holds both the Register of Wills and the Clerk of the Orphans' Court, the grant of letters and the later administration filings are lodged at the same office, Room 103 of the Dauphin County Courthouse at 101 Market Street in Harrisburg, with a branch office in Elizabethville that opens on the first and third Wednesdays for northern Dauphin County residents.
The jurisdiction process
- Confirm venue. Dauphin 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 Dauphin 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, an estimate of the estate's assets and debts, the names and addresses of the heirs, and photo identification for the personal representative. For a will without a self-proving acknowledgment, two witnesses must identify the decedent's signature under oath.
- File with the Register of Wills. File in person at Room 103 of the Dauphin County Courthouse, 101 Market Street, Harrisburg, or use the county's virtual-probate system: e-file the probate information and upload the documents, then complete a short video conference in which you take the oath and sign the Petition for Grant of Letters on camera. Transactions involving payment must be completed by 4:00 p.m.
- Pay the county filing fee. Dauphin's Register of Wills probate fee is graduated by the gross estimated value of the estate, from $121.00 for an estate of $1,000 or less up to $1,251.00 for an estate of $900,000.01 to $1,000,000, then $250.00 for each additional $100,000; the listed amount includes the filing fee for the tax return, inventory, and death certificate. The Judicial Computer System fee and the Automation/Computerization fee are listed as separate line items on the county schedule (42 P.S. § 21022.1). A short certificate, the certified proof of your authority that banks and transfer agents rely on, is $10.00 (Dauphin County Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court Bill of Costs, effective January 1, 2024, verified July 2026).
- 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 Dauphin County Reporter, the county legal periodical, 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. 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.
- 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 Dauphin County
Pennsylvania uses one statewide Register of Wills and Orphans' Court form set, and Dauphin 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.
The small-estate petition is different: settlement of a small estate under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3102 uses a county form filed with the Orphans' Court division, not a numbered statewide RW form. Dauphin County publishes a small-estate affidavit form on its online-forms page for this path. In Dauphin County the completed forms are filed with the Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court at Room 103 of the courthouse, or uploaded through the county's virtual-probate and e-filing system, which accepts new and existing cases (certain filings, including formal accounts, must still be filed in paper).
Fees
Pennsylvania sets probate filing fees per county, and Dauphin County publishes its own Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court Bill of Costs, effective January 1, 2024, with the grant of letters graduated by the gross estimated value of the estate. The listed grant-of-letters amount includes the filing fee for the tax return, inventory, and death certificate; if the estate's value was underestimated in the petition, the county collects the difference when the inheritance-tax return or inventory is filed. The Judicial Computer System (JCS) fee and the Automation/Computerization fee are listed as separate line items on the county schedule (42 P.S. § 21022.1); the county notes that under Act 45 of 2025, signed November 13, 2025, the JCS fee for all cases except summary traffic is $41.25. Confirm the current schedule before you file; each figure below carries its source.
| Item | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Grant of letters, estate $1,000 or less | $121.00 | The minimum grant-of-letters fee; the amount includes the filing fee for the tax return, inventory, and death certificate (Dauphin County Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court Bill of Costs, effective January 1, 2024, verified July 2026) |
| Grant of letters, estate $50,000.01 to $100,000 | $341.00 | An example mid-range tier; the fee rises in steps with the gross estimated value of the estate (Dauphin County Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court Bill of Costs, effective January 1, 2024, verified July 2026) |
| Grant of letters, estate $900,000.01 to $1,000,000 | $1,251.00 | The top published tier under $1 million, then $250.00 for each additional $100,000 or fraction to $20 million (Dauphin County Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court Bill of Costs, effective January 1, 2024, verified July 2026) |
| Judicial Computer System (JCS) fee | $41.25 | A statewide surcharge on initial filings, listed as a separate line item; Act 45 of 2025, signed November 13, 2025, sets it at $41.25 for all cases except summary traffic (Dauphin County Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court Bill of Costs, effective January 1, 2024, verified July 2026) |
| Automation/Computerization fee | $20.75 | Listed as a separate line item on the county schedule (Dauphin County Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court Bill of Costs, effective January 1, 2024, verified July 2026) |
| Short certificate | $10.00 | Per certified copy of letters, the proof of authority banks and transfer agents rely on (Dauphin County Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court Bill of Costs, effective January 1, 2024, verified July 2026) |
| Probate of a will or codicil without letters | $75.00 | For filing and probating a will where no grant of letters is sought (Dauphin County Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court Bill of Costs, effective January 1, 2024, verified July 2026) |
| Renunciation | $10.00 | Filing Form RW-06 where a person with priority declines to serve (Dauphin County Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court Bill of Costs, effective January 1, 2024, verified July 2026) |
Local nuance
Dauphin County-specific considerations
One officer holds both offices. Unlike counties where the Register of Wills and the Clerk of the Orphans' Court are separate, in Dauphin County a single elected row officer holds both roles and serves from one office, Room 103 of the Dauphin County Courthouse at 101 Market Street, Harrisburg. That office admits the will, grants letters, takes the REV-1500, and also accepts the inventory, accounts, and other Orphans' Court filings. This page refers to the office rather than the officeholder, who changes with election.
Dauphin pioneered virtual probate. Dauphin County was the first Pennsylvania county to launch virtual probate, in March 2020, and the office's virtual probate and e-filing work earned the Governor's Award for Local Government Excellence in Information Technology in 2022. You upload the documents (the death certificate, the will, witness oaths, and photo identification), receive a confirmation with the completed Petition for Grant of Letters, and then join a short video conference to take the oath and sign the petition on camera. After the conference, the original documents and payment are placed in the drop-box at the Market Street entrance of the courthouse or mailed to Room 103.
Records search runs through OCR Cloud Search. Dauphin County runs its own online records search, the OCR Cloud Search public-access site powered by Neumo (previously GovOS), which retrieves county estate, marriage, and public Orphans' Court records with optical character recognition. This is separate from the statewide UJS Portal case search, whose Register of Wills and Orphans' Court estate-record coverage varies by county.
Payment cutoff and payment methods. The office is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but transactions involving payment must be completed by 4:00 p.m. The office does not accept cash; check or money order is accepted for county fees and inheritance tax, and card and electronic payments run through a third-party processor, MSB Payment Processing, which charges 2.50% with a $2.00 minimum for credit or debit cards and $1.50 per e-check payment (Dauphin County Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court Bill of Costs, effective January 1, 2024, verified July 2026).
A northern-county branch office. For residents of northern Dauphin County, a Register of Wills branch office operates at the Northern Dauphin Human Services Center, 295 State Drive, Elizabethville, on the first and third Wednesdays only, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., (717) 905-2700 ext. 2507. It is a satellite of the same office, not a separate court.
Recent updates
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| January 1, 2024 | A new Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court Bill of Costs took effect; the graduated grant-of-letters fees now run from $121.00 to $1,251.00 for estates up to $1,000,000 (source: county Bill of Costs, verified July 2026). |
| November 13, 2025 | Act 45 of 2025 was signed, and the Dauphin County Register of Wills notes that as a result the Judicial Computer System fee for all cases except summary traffic is now $41.25 (source: county Register of Wills page, verified July 2026). |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Dauphin County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | A Harrisburg-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 Dauphin County Register of Wills on Form RW-02, 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 Dauphin County probate attorney if the estate is contested or complex. |
| Out-of-state adult child, small estate | If the parent lived in Dauphin 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), using the county's small-estate affidavit form, 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. Dauphin's virtual-probate system lets the child open and sign the estate by video conference without traveling to Harrisburg. | Asset discovery to confirm the estate fits the small-estate path and holds no complicating real property. Packet generation for the small-estate affidavit 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 Dauphin 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 (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 Dauphin 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 Dauphin County probate attorney to run the administration and any contested step. |
Self-help resources
| Resource | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Dauphin County Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court (dauphincounty.gov, publicly-elected-officials pages) | The county office pages: address, hours, the Bill of Costs fee schedule, the small-estate affidavit form, virtual probate, e-filing, and OCR Cloud Search |
| Dauphin County virtual probate and e-filing | The county's online system to open an estate and file Register of Wills and Orphans' Court documents by upload and video conference, for new and existing cases |
| Dauphin County OCR Cloud Search | The county's online search of estate, marriage, and public Orphans' Court records |
| 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 (midpenn.org, Harrisburg office (717) 234-0492, apply (800) 326-9177) | Free civil legal help for income-eligible residents of Dauphin County and central Pennsylvania, including estate-related and elder-law matters |
| Dauphin County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service (dcba-pa.org, (717) 232-7536) | Referral to a qualified attorney in the Harrisburg area, with an initial consultation |
| 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 Dauphin County estates are handled with the statewide forms, the Register of Wills, and the county's virtual-probate system. 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 Dauphin 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. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Dauphin 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, Dauphin County real estate, business interests, and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value for estate settlement and can pick the right Pennsylvania path before you file.
Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the Dauphin 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 affidavit where the estate qualifies, ready to file with the Register of Wills in person or through the county's virtual-probate system.
Find a local probate attorney. When an estate is contested, taxable, or otherwise calls for counsel, Sunset connects families to a vetted Dauphin 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 Dauphin County, Pennsylvania?
Probate begins with the Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court, in Room 103 of the Dauphin County Courthouse, 101 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101, (717) 780-6500. That is where the original will is filed, the Petition for Grant of Letters (Form RW-02) is presented, and letters are issued. In Dauphin County the same elected officer serves as both the Register of Wills and the Clerk of the Orphans' Court, so the later administration filings are lodged at the same office.
Can I open probate online in Dauphin County?
Yes. Dauphin County was the first Pennsylvania county to launch virtual probate, in March 2020. You upload the documents, then take the oath and sign the Petition for Grant of Letters during a short video conference; the original documents and payment are then dropped at the Market Street entrance of the courthouse or mailed to Room 103. The county also offers e-filing for new and existing cases, though certain filings, including formal accounts, must still be filed in paper. Confirm the current requirements for your matter with the office.
How much does it cost to open a probate estate in Dauphin County?
Dauphin's Register of Wills probate fee is set by the county and graduated by the gross estimated value of the estate, from $121.00 for an estate of $1,000 or less up to $1,251.00 for an estate of $900,000.01 to $1,000,000, then $250.00 for each additional $100,000; the listed amount includes the filing fee for the tax return, inventory, and death certificate. The Judicial Computer System fee ($41.25) and the Automation/Computerization fee ($20.75) are listed as separate line items (42 P.S. § 21022.1). A short certificate is $10.00 (Dauphin County Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court Bill of Costs, effective January 1, 2024, verified July 2026).
What are the Dauphin County Register of Wills hours?
The office is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and is closed on weekends and county holidays. Transactions involving payment must be completed by 4:00 p.m. A branch office at the Northern Dauphin Human Services Center in Elizabethville opens on the first and third Wednesdays only, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
How do I look up a Dauphin County estate or probate record?
Dauphin County runs its own online records search, OCR Cloud Search, which retrieves county estate, marriage, and Orphans' Court records. 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. The Register of Wills office holds the official file.
What forms do I use for a Dauphin 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. The small-estate petition (20 Pa.C.S. § 3102) uses a county form; Dauphin County publishes a small-estate affidavit form on its online-forms page.
Do I have to appear in person to open probate in Dauphin County?
No. Dauphin County's virtual-probate system lets you open the estate by video conference: you take the oath and sign the Petition for Grant of Letters on camera, then send in the original documents and payment. You can also file in person at Room 103 of the courthouse if you prefer. Confirm what your matter requires with the office.
Does Dauphin 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 Dauphin County estates. The REV-1500 resident return is filed with the Register of Wills. 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 Dauphin 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. Dauphin County publishes a small-estate affidavit form for this path on its online-forms page; 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.