How Do I Get Appointed as Executor in Pennsylvania?

In Pennsylvania, the Register of Wills of the county of the decedent’s domicile appoints the personal representative and the The county Register of Wills issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration; an informal (registrar) track is available.

State

Document Type

Getting appointed in Pennsylvania

Personal Representative (executor if testate, administrator if intestate)

The form that opens the estate

RW-02

Petition for Grant of Letters · Fillable PDF · View source

Start this petition for Pennsylvania — the builder fills it with your answers. You review, sign, and file it with the court.

Where you file

Register of Wills of the county of the decedent’s domicile (a row office of the Court of Common Pleas; contested matters go to the Orphans’ Court Division)

What the court issues (with a will)

Letters Testamentary

issued by The county Register of Wills

Letters are an output — the court issues them after granting the petition.

At a glance

UPC adoptedInformal trackE-filing (self-represented)Self-represented filingLocal/county forms

Probate is filed at the county Register of Wills; Pennsylvania has no central statewide probate e-filing system, so the channel is set county by county. York accepts e-filed Petitions for Grant of Letters and publishes an express pro-se path. Bucks accepts the Petition "either online or in person," then schedules a Zoom call to complete it. Montgomery encourages its online probate e-filing program but also accommodates walk-ins and in-person probates 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Philadelphia is the counter-example: a self-represented petitioner must file in person at City Hall Room 180, because the county virtual-probate channel is attorney-only ("Currently, attorney representation is required for virtual probate of a will"). Even in e-filing counties the oath under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3154 is administered by the Register (in person or by video), so the appointment cannot be completed by upload alone.

The RW-series petition (RW-02) is statewide and, under Pa. O.C. Rule 10.1, must be used exclusively and accepted for filing by every county Register of Wills. Counties layer their own local intake on top of it: Philadelphia issues an RW-01 Estate Information Sheet (a county-only number — the statewide Appendix begins at RW-02), plus a local small-estate affidavit and informal-caveat form; filing fees, fee schedules, appointment requirements, and any e-filing portal are set per county.

Bond

Required before Letters: No
Waivable by will: Yes
Waivable by beneficiaries: Yes

What to file with the petition

Original will and any codicils, presented to the Register of Wills of the county of the decedent’s last family or principal residence (20 Pa.C.S. §§ 3131, 3132)
Original (raised-seal) death certificate, presented at the county Register of Wills — county intake practice, not a statutory, rule, or statewide-form requirement for a grant of letters
Completed RW-02 Petition for Grant of Letters (rev. 10/11/2011), including the Oath of Personal Representative on page 2
Oath of subscribing / non-subscribing witness(es) where the will is not self-proved (RW-03 Oath of Subscribing Witness(es) / RW-04 Oath of Non-subscribing Witness(es) / RW-05 Oath of Witness(es) to Will Executed by Mark) (20 Pa.C.S. §§ 3132, 3132.1)
Renunciation (RW-06) from any person with equal or higher priority who declines to serve (20 Pa.C.S. § 3155)
Estimated estate value (personal and real property) entered on the petition for fee/bond calculation
Bond unless excused (20 Pa.C.S. §§ 3171-3175)
Notice of Estate Administration to beneficiaries and intestate heirs (RW-07) within 3 months of the grant of letters, and Certification of Notice (RW-08) within 10 days after giving that notice (Pa. O.C. Rule 10.5)

Small-estate alternative

Bypasses full Letters: Yes

State-specific notes

The county Register of Wills — not a judge — probates the will and grants Letters (20 Pa.C.S. § 901); an aggrieved party in interest appeals the register’s decree to the Orphans’ Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas "within one year of the decree" (§ 908(a)). Intestate (and c.t.a. / d.b.n.c.t.a.) appointments follow the statutory priority order in § 3155(b); no letters issue to a principal creditor, "other fit person", or redevelopment authority "until 30 days after the decedent’s death" (§ 3155(c)). A will may be offered for probate at any time (§ 3133(a)), but Letters testamentary or of administration "shall not be granted after the expiration of 21 years from the decedent’s death, except on the order of the court, upon cause shown" (§ 3152), and a will offered more than one year after death is void against a bona fide grantee or lienholder of the decedent’s real estate who recorded first (§ 3133(c)). Small estates of $50,000 or less in personal property can be settled on petition under § 3102 (or passed informally under the § 3101 direct-payment dispositions) without a grant of letters. Separate from the appointment: PA inheritance tax is filed on Department of Revenue form REV-1500 (not "PA-1500"), and a 5% discount applies to tax paid within three months of death; the tax becomes delinquent nine months after death. There is no statewide fillable Letters form or statewide small-estate form — both are flagged as gaps rather than invented.

General information about how a personal representative is appointed, not legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney for legal questions. Data verified Aug 24, 2026

Pennsylvania uses Petition for Grant of Letters (RW-02), filed with the Register of Wills of the county of the decedent’s domicile. The county Register of Wills issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration after the court grants the petition.

Along with the petition, Pennsylvania generally requires: Original will and any codicils, presented to the Register of Wills of the county of the decedent’s last family or principal residence (20 Pa.C.S. §§ 3131, 3132); Original (raised-seal) death certificate, presented at the county Register of Wills — county intake practice, not a statutory, rule, or statewide-form requirement for a grant of letters; Completed RW-02 Petition for Grant of Letters (rev. 10/11/2011), including the Oath of Personal Representative on page 2. The court's own checklist runs longer for particular cases.

Pennsylvania does not require a bond by default before Letters issue, though the court can order one.

Pennsylvania permits a self-represented person to open an estate, using Petition for Grant of Letters (RW-02). E-filing is open to self-represented filers. The Pennsylvania self-file probate assessment sets self-filing against attorney costs.

Yes. A revocable living trust passes its assets to the beneficiaries without a court appointment in Pennsylvania: no petition, no Letters, no bond. A revocable trust built with SimplyTrust takes about fifteen minutes.

Getting Appointed in Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, a personal representative is appointed by the Register of Wills of the county of the decedent’s domicile. The county Register of Wills issues the Letters that prove authority over the estate — Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (no will). Pennsylvania has not adopted the Uniform Probate Code.

The estate is opened by filing Petition for Grant of Letters (RW-02) with the court. The court filing fee runs $50 - $950+ (based on estate value), and Pennsylvania offers an informal (registrar) appointment track for qualifying estates.

Pennsylvania does not require a bond by default before Letters issue, though the court can order one where it is needed to protect creditors or heirs.

Estates under $50,000 in Pennsylvania may qualify for a simplified procedure that avoids a full appointment entirely. The self-file probate assessment carries a Pennsylvania cost comparison.

SimplyTrust Editorial·Updated September 8, 2026

Legal Sources

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

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