Free Pennsylvania Notice to Creditors

In Pennsylvania, the notice to creditors is published for 3 weeks in a local newspaper, and creditors have 12 months from first publication to present claims.

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The Pennsylvania notice identifies the appointed representative and the address where claims are presented.

State Where the Estate Is Being Administered*

The state where the estate proceeding is filed. Only states where the personal representative prepares the creditor notice are listed.

Your Appointed Title*

As stated in your Letters or appointment order.

Your Full Legal Name*

Street Address*

The address where creditors present claims. It is printed in the notice.

City*

State

ZIP Code*

Telephone

Email Address*

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No. Pennsylvania publishes no statewide notice form. Pennsylvania requires the personal representative to publish the notice, and the statute names what the published notice must contain, so the notice is drafted to those elements and prints with a checklist of them.

The creditor claim period of 12 months protects the personal representative who distributes after it; it is not a bar, and late claims can still reach undistributed assets.

Claims are presented to the personal representative at the address stated in the notice. The address in the notice is the one claims go to, so it is the representative's own, or the court's, as the statute directs.

Pennsylvania does not require written notice to known creditors. The enclosed notice carries the deadline; the letter adds none of its own. A mailed notice for each known creditor is part of the packet.

Once a week for 3 consecutive weeks, in the statute's terms: Both a newspaper of general circulation published at or near the decedent's residence (or where letters were granted, for a nonresident) and the county legal periodical designated by rule of court, once a week for three successive weeks (20 Pa.C.S. § 3162(a); 45 Pa.C.S. § 308). Pennsylvania requires the publisher's affidavit of publication to be filed with the court; the newspaper provides it after the final run. The Pennsylvania creditor claims tool sets the publication beside the claim deadline and the payment order.

Creditor Notice in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania publishes no statewide notice form. Pennsylvania requires the personal representative to publish the notice, and the statute names what the published notice must contain, so the notice is drafted to those elements and placed with a qualifying newspaper. Publication of that notice is what starts the claim period.

The claim period of 12 months after the first publication of the notice protects a representative who distributes after it runs; it is not a bar, and a late claim can still reach undistributed assets.

Claims are presented to the personal representative at the address stated in the notice; the address in the notice is the one claims go to. Pennsylvania does not command a mailed notice to known creditors; published notice alone does not bar a known creditor's claim under Tulsa Professional Collection Services v. Pope, 485 U.S. 478 (1988).

The notice runs once a week for 3 consecutive weeks; the newspaper, in the statute's terms: Both a newspaper of general circulation published at or near the decedent's residence (or where letters were granted, for a nonresident) and the county legal periodical designated by rule of court, once a week for three successive weeks (20 Pa.C.S. § 3162(a); 45 Pa.C.S. § 308). Pennsylvania requires the publisher's affidavit of publication to be filed with the court; the newspaper supplies it after the final run.

SimplyTrust Editorial·Updated October 19, 2026

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Data sourced from Pennsylvania statutes and official state code. How we research.

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Free Pennsylvania Notice to Creditors

In Pennsylvania, the notice to creditors is published for 3 weeks in a local newspaper, and creditors have 12 months from first publication to present claims.

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Creditor Notice in Pennsylvania

Free Pennsylvania Notice to Creditors

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Loss of a Spouse

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Free Pennsylvania Notice to Creditors

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