Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

You leave out a lot of information. When did your father die? When was your uncle appointed as executor? When were the home sold? How long has the estate been open? How could the houses be sold without your uncle being involved here if the estate is still open? Or did the uncle make a partial distribution of the home to you and your sister? If the uncle was not involved, then you and your sister would be splitting any profits. Why would the funds go into the estate in that case?

Generally, it takes 1-2 two years from the date of death to administer an estate. The duties of the executor are to inventory the assets and get the appraised and to give notice to the creditors so they can file any claims. The executor pays any just claims/debts out of estate assets. If there are not enough liquid assets to pay any claims, then real or personal property may have to be sold and the proceeds used to pay any debts.

The uncle cannot close the estate until taxes are paid and approved of by the PA revenue department (assuming the estate for your father is pending in PA; PA has inheritance taxes which must be paid). Once the tax approval is issued, the estate can then be closed. If the estate has been open for more than one year, the executor should be filing status reports with the court. If nothing is done, then the court is going to be making inquiry eventually.

Since you provide no details here, I would contact the court and get a copy of the estate file. The file should contain your father's will, the probate petition, order granting letters testamentary and notice to creditors. If your uncle has filed an inventory, it will be there, as will any accounting or status reports.

Pay a probate attorney who practices in the county/state where the estate is pending to review the file as well as any documents related to the sale of the real estate. Depending on what you find in the file will dictate what you do next. If the estate file is fairly complete, perhaps your attorney can call or write to the estate attorney (if any) or your uncle and find out when he anticipates closure of the estate. If nothing has been done as it should be, this would signify another problem and it may be that you will have to hire the attorney to seek to remove your uncle.

When things are getting nearly wrapped up, your uncle would be sending you a receipt and release and a proposed accounting. You should have a probate attorney review to make sure all is in order. If ok, you can sign. The estate will then be closed once the court or clerk confirms the accounting and any assets in the estate will be distributed to you and the other beneficiaries. If you object to the accounting, then you must file written objections within 10 days after receiving the proposed accounting. If you fail to object then your objections are waived.