Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

If that's truly all there is, you would open an estate and advertise the estate. The purpose of advertising is to (1) give notice to creditors so that they may present their claims; this starts a one-year period for creditors to present their claims; and (2) to prevent the personal representative from having personal liability for any creditor's claims. Then you could file the PA Inheritance Tax Return, showing that there is an "insolvent" estate, meaning that there are no valuables and therefore only debts [assuming that there are debts] but no assets with which to pay. If creditors make claims. you can then show them the notice from the Department of Revenue, Inheritance Tax Division accepting the tax return of an insolvent estate. Of course, to the extent that there are any assets, those would have to be paid to creditors, pro rata.

THIS RESPONSE IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE, SINCE I DO NOT HAVE ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED, AND I DO NOT HAVE A REPRESENTATION AGREEMENT WITH YOU.

* If the answers to your question confirm that you have a valid issue or worthwhile claim, your next step should almost always be to establish a dialog with a lawyer who can provide specific advice to you. Contact a lawyer in your county or township.

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I agree with Attorney Jacobson up to a point. Even in cases of insolvent estates, it may be worthwhile to probate and cut off a creditor's claim. You shorten the statute of limitations a creditor has by doing that. Problem is, probate costs money and if someone truly had no assets, then a friend or family member may not want to be shelling out money out of their own pocket. Nor are they going to want to fill out an inheritance tax return unless they are required to do so.

In answer to your question, you decide whether to probate an estate depending on whether there are probate assets. Probate assets are things like land, a car, a bank account solely owned by the deceased. Examples of non-probate assets are things that are jointly owned with right of sruvivorship (like land) or named beneficiary designated assets (joint bank accounts or bank accounts with a POD/TOD designation, life insurance, annuities or retirement benefits). If you are not sure, it would be good to at least consult with a probate attorney who practices in the county/state where the estate will be probated. Failing that, talk with the register of wills/probate court (probate courts go by different names depending on the state; in Pennsylvania, its the register of wills at the Orphans' Court).

However, if the deceased truly had no assets - no land, no car, no money in the bank, nothing of particular value - then this is what I would do. Any will must of course be filed with the court, but there is no reason to petition for administration of an estate for the deceased because there are no probate assets. What I would do in that case is make a list of the known creditors. If unknown, who gets the mail for the deceased? Bills will arrive in the mail. Get a copy of the death certificate. Write a letter to the creditor advising that the deceased maintained the account with creditor, that deceased died, that you are not personally liable for the deceased's debts, that no estate will be probated as the deceased had no assets and that you are not personally liable for the deceased's debts (assuming you are not a co-signer or joint account holder). Ask that the creditor close the account and suggest that the creditor write this off as a bad debt. Provide a copy of the death certificate and send the letter to the creditor's correspondence address via certified mail.

Of course, I am only suggesting this in cases where the debts were only in the name of the deceased and there truly is no assets. Obviously if the deceased had a painting, antique or some other really valuable item then it would be fraud not to pay the deceased's bills.