Making Law Easy Show - EPISODE 5 – Explaining the Registry of Wills
EPISODE 5 – Making Law Easy Show – Explaining the Registry of Wills
Hi there. Welcome to the Making Law Easy Show brought to you by 1-2-3 Law Group. My name is Karl Schieneman, a Partner of 1-2-3 Law Group. And today we are going to learn about the Registry of Wills in Pennsylvania – the Department of the Registry of Wills. I have with me a special guest, Marty Madigan, Deputy of the Registry of Wills office. He’s worked 31 years in the Registry of Wills office, and we’re glad to have you on the show.
Thank you Karl.
First of all if you could just tell what you do, and what does the Registry of Wills Office do.
Well first of all, the Registry of Wills Office is a semi judicial office. It is the responsibility of the Register of Wills to make sure that the individual who passed away, if they had a will, that their last wishes are met. We have the power to make that appointment through the will naming that person the executor. If that person dies intestate, without a will, then what happens then is different family members that would be in that highest blood class would have the right to act as the administrator of that estate. Some times that gets a little dicey and it is up to the Register to pick the best person. Sometimes there’s some family in fighting and we would have to decide who is best able to administer the estate. Other times if there is a will involved what we do is we would have conferences and actual hearings with evidentiary hearings to see that the person who executed this will was either unfit mentally to execute that will or if there was diminished capacity. Those are the two things in the state of Pennsylvania where you are able to challenge the validity of a will. That’s diminished capacity and undue influence.
OK and you hear a lot about probate, and wanting to avoid probate or the probate process. What exactly is the probate process if you could describe it.
Sure. Once an individual passes away in the state of Pennsylvania and specifically here in Allegheny County, those assets will be frozen upon his death. So it is the responsibility of the Register of Wills to appoint a person either as the executor or as the administrator for the estate. Once we would make that appointment we issue what we call short certificates or certificates of appointment, and that shows the bank lending institutions, even real estate agents, that that person is authorized to act on behalf of the estate. So what he would do is literally he would go out to all the different banks and he would liquidate all of the accounts, and he would set up what we call an estate bank account. All the monies would be put into that and out of that all the bills that the decedent made would be paid out of this account. After that, then they would pay the inheritance tax. And the inheritance tax in the state of Pennsylvania it’s based on the relationship that the decedent had with the individual with the heir. Whoever would receive that money, that heir would be Read Entire Manuscript .