Where to Probate a Will in Pennsylvania

A where to probate a will in Pennsylvania lawyer in Philadelphia is a person you should contact after a loved one has passed away. A where to probate a will in Pennsylvania attorney in Philadelphia will advise you about what to anticipate over the probate process and what other documents and strategies might have been used by the person in terms of estate planning to avoid the probate process.

A Philadelphia where to probate a will in Pennsylvania lawyer is a powerful advocate and resource to turn to in these challenging times and when you have numerous different questions that must be answered as soon as possible. If you think probate fraud has already happened, you deserve answers.

Clients often wonder where a loved one's will should be filed in order to initiate the probate process. In Pennsylvania, the law is that a person's will has to be filed in a county in which that person lived at the time of his or her death. A Pennsylvania death certificate will have a box known as 8D, which includes the resident county. When you officially file the will for probate, the court will look to see if the county you are filing in matches the county listed on that box.

This can be very complicated if a person owns property in different areas. A person's residence in Pennsylvania is classified as the place where they officially live if they intend to remain. The office that you would go to in order to file a will in the county of residence is known as the Register of Wills. However, in Allegany County that office goes by the name of Department of Court Records. If a person owns a house in one county where they have lived for many different decades, but has lived for a short period of time with another person, such as to receive advanced long-term care support from family members, the residence remains the place in which that person maintains a permanent home.

The residence does not change as a result of a temporary absence. However, in the event that the elderly person who owns a residence in another county chooses to move in with a family member over a long term, then this could be classified as that person's official residence. This is because not only is that person present in the new county, but they are present there with the intent to remain. One of the most common concerns raised in the probate process has to do with when a personal representative, estate executor or trustee does not handle the fiduciary duty responsibilities appropriately.

This can put beneficiaries of a trust or of a will in the unfortunate position of having lost out on critical time and assets that they were supposed to receive based on the original estate planning information. The support of a lawyer is instrumental in determining whether or not such a breach of fiduciary duty has occurred and if so, how you should proceed to file a case against the responsible party. You can have an executor or personal representative removed from a case if it can be shown that he or she breached their duties and failed to provide the right support as required by law, but you need to take action sooner rather than later to contest this.

It's also important to know where to probate a bill in PA in case you have a claim against someone due to fraud or you believe that the will should never have been treated as legally valid. In those cases, you need to have evidence on your side.