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The original, and where it lives

The register of wills probates the original. A will may be offered for probate at any time after the death, though one offered more than a year later is void against a good-faith buyer or lienholder of real estate in the circumstances the statute states (20 Pa.C.S. §3133). If someone holds a decedent's will and does not produce it, any party in interest may ask the register to cite that person to deposit it (20 Pa.C.S. §3137). Keep the original safe, tell your executor where it is, and keep copies separately.

How it was signed, and making it self-proved

Any person 18 or older and of sound mind may make a will (20 Pa.C.S. §2501). A Pennsylvania will must be in writing and signed by the testator at the end; writing after the signature does not invalidate what comes before it; and a will signed by mark, or by another person in the testator's presence and at the testator's direction, also needs two witnesses who sign in the testator's presence (20 Pa.C.S. §2502).

A will can be made self-proved — at signing or later — by the testator's acknowledgment and the witnesses' affidavits before an officer authorized to administer oaths, in the form the statute sets out; unless the will is contested or was signed by mark or by another, the register accepts those affidavits as proof (20 Pa.C.S. §3132.1). It spares your family a step at probate.

Your executor

The register grants letters testamentary to the executor your will names (20 Pa.C.S. §3155(a)); without a named executor who can serve, letters of administration go to the persons the statute ranks, in order (§3155(b)). Your executor advertises the grant of letters once a week for three successive weeks (20 Pa.C.S. §3162), gathers your property, pays valid claims and taxes, and distributes what remains. Tell the person you named, and keep the choice current.

What changes a will

Pennsylvania modifies a will by later circumstances (20 Pa.C.S. §2507):

• Divorce: a provision for your spouse becomes ineffective if you are divorced after making the will, or die domiciled in Pennsylvania during divorce proceedings after grounds are established, unless the will shows it was meant to survive a divorce.
• Marriage: a spouse you marry after making the will takes the share an intestate spouse would, unless the will gives more or was made in contemplation of the marriage.
• A new child: a child born or adopted after the will and not provided for takes an intestate share of the property not passing to your spouse, unless the omission appears intentional.

A will and a trust together

A will governs only what passes through probate: property in your own name with no beneficiary designation, joint owner or trust title. Many plans pair a revocable trust with a pour-over will that sends anything left in your name to the trust. Beneficiary designations and joint ownership pass outside the will, so they need to agree with it; a designation naming a spouse is ineffective after a divorce in the circumstances the statute states (20 Pa.C.S. §6111.2).

What happens at your death

Your executor petitions the register of wills of your county for probate and letters (20 Pa.C.S. §3155), advertises the grant (§3162), files the inventory (§3301) and the inheritance tax return within nine months (72 P.S. §9136), pays claims in the order the statute sets when the estate cannot pay them all (20 Pa.C.S. §3392), and distributes. A surviving spouse may elect one-third of property that includes property passing by will (§2203), and the household's spouse, children or parents may claim the family exemption of $3,500 (§3121).

When a licensed Pennsylvania attorney is the right next call

TrusteeClear explains and organizes; it does not review a will or say what is missing from it. Many people bring their will to a licensed Pennsylvania attorney of their choosing to make it self-proved, to coordinate it with a trust and beneficiary designations, or to update it after a marriage, a divorce or a new child.