Allentown practice of Robert M. Knauer on North 8th Street, serving Lehigh and Northampton Counties. Handles probate of wills, required legal notices and advertising, family agreements, Pennsylvania inheritance and federal estate tax returns, and the settlement and distribution of estates and trusts, and prepares wills, revocable and testamentary trusts, special needs trusts, powers of attorney and business succession documents alongside a real estate practice.
Probate in Northampton County
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Northampton County Orphans' Court
Northampton County
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Verified October 16, 2026 · Source
Do I need a lawyer for probate in Northampton County? →Settling an estate in Northampton County →
Trust Administration Firms Serving Northampton County
Family-run firm with offices on Hamilton Street in downtown Allentown and in Lehighton, serving Allentown, Bethlehem, Palmerton, Lehighton, Walnutport, and Jim Thorpe. Guides executors and trustees through probate, estate administration, and trust administration, and prepares wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and advance health care directives.
Lancaster firm on East King Street whose Trusts & Estates Practice Group works across south-central and southeastern Pennsylvania, with main offices in Gettysburg, Hanover, Camp Hill, Lebanon, Malvern, Wyomissing, Schuylkill Haven and York. Guides personal representatives through estate administration and assists trustees, guardians and agents under powers of attorney with their fiduciary duties. Trust and estate litigators handle will contests, surcharge actions and contested guardianship proceedings.
Lemoyne firm at 301 Market Street, where its practice opened in 1914, with offices in Wyomissing, Lancaster and Lewistown serving Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Berks and Mifflin Counties. Guides executors and administrators through estate administration, from cataloging assets to paying debts, filing tax returns and distributing to beneficiaries, administers trusts and guardianships, and litigates estate and trust disputes between beneficiaries and trustees.
Harrisburg-based firm on Pine Street with Pennsylvania offices in Lancaster, York, Reading, State College, Pittsburgh, Plymouth Meeting and Radnor. Guides executors and trustees through estate and trust administration, including gathering assets, paying debts, inheritance, estate and income tax returns, fiduciary accountings and Orphans' Court petitions. Its fiduciary litigators handle surcharge actions, objections to accounts, elective share claims and guardianship proceedings in the Orphans' Court.
Harrisburg firm on Linglestown Road, opened in 2005, with a second office in Newport, representing executors, trustees, guardians, and beneficiaries across Pennsylvania. Probates wills for in-state and out-of-state executors, handles ancillary probate, trust administration, and estate tax returns, and litigates will contests, claims against fiduciaries, and demands for accounting or removal of trustees and executors.
All 8 Pennsylvania trust administration firms serving Northampton County →
Forms for Planning and Settling an Estate in Pennsylvania
Free Pennsylvania forms to plan or settle an estate: a will, trust, powers of attorney, TOD deed and the probate forms. Prepare each form for Pennsylvania.
Revocable Living Trust
Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.
Pour-Over Will
In Pennsylvania, a pour-over will needs no witnesses to be valid20 Pa.C.S. § 2502Verified Oct 19, 2026View source and moves anything left outside the trust into it through probate.
Tools for Planning and Settling an Estate in Pennsylvania
Free calculators and checklists to plan or settle an estate in Pennsylvania: will and trust costs, probate, executor pay and taxes. Run each tool.
How Do I Settle a Trust?
Settling a trust in Pennsylvania happens outside court: the trustee acts under the state's Uniform Trust Code20 Pa.C.S. § 7701 et seq.Verified Oct 17, 2026View source, notifies the beneficiaries within 30 days20 Pa.C.S. § 7780.3Verified Sep 15, 2026View source, then pays the debts and distributes under the trust's terms.
What's Fair Trustee Compensation?
In Pennsylvania, trustee compensation follows "reasonable compensation" (UTC § 708 or equivalent)20 Pa.C.S. § 7768Verified Sep 18, 2026View source unless the trust instrument sets a different amount.
How Do I Settle an Estate?
Settling an estate in Pennsylvania: the personal representative files the estate inventory within 270 days20 Pa.C.S. §§ 3301-3303Verified Sep 15, 2026View source of appointment; creditors have 12 months20 Pa.C.S. §§ 3162, 3381-3392, 3532Verified Oct 19, 2026View source to present claims; a simple estate closes in 6 months to 9 months.
Do I Have to File Tax Returns for Someone Who Died?
Pennsylvania requires a final state income tax return for the decedent alongside the federal Form 104072 P.S. § 7302Verified Sep 20, 2026View source; a federal estate tax return (Form 706) is required only for estates above $15,000,00026 USC 2001(c), 2010; P.L. 119-21 §70106Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
How Does Step-Up in Basis Work?
Inherited assets in Pennsylvania take a basis reset to fair market value on the date of death26 USC § 1014Verified Sep 15, 2026View source, and the gain on a later sale faces ordinary income tax at the state's regular rates72 P.S. § 7302 (Tax Reform Code of 1971, Article III) — flat 3.07% individual rateVerified Sep 15, 2026View source.
