Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

The farm and the house now automatically belong to the other 3 people whose names are on the deed. The contents of the house are the personal property of the deceased and pass according to the intestate succession law of PA. The heirs of the deceased have no claim to the house and real property itself.

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.

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I agree wholeheartedly with Attorney Jacobson. The deed just covers the deed to the land and any structures on the land. It does NOT cover the contents of those structures and it does not "supercede" any other claims except as to the land that was the subject of the joint tenancy.

Since the land was a joint tenancy with right of survivorship, then the share of the deceased automatically passed to the other 3 survivors. Having this many people own land is not a good idea unless the 3 of them can agree all the time on everything. If they can't if all can agree to sell the land, that would be good. If all 3 want to keep the land, they might want to consider some kind of business structure - LLC/s-corp./partnership to manage the land (rent it out, lease for farming etc.). If one of the owners wants to sell and another wants to keep it then the ones who want it should buy out the share of those who don't. Again, if there is more than one owner, then the owners need to think about having some kind of business structure to manage the land.

Getting back to your question, as noted by Attorney Jacobson, the contents of the home will pass to the heirs of the deceased under the intestacy laws of the state where the deceased lived just prior to death. If the person had a spouse and or children/the spouse and children would get any personal property and any other land owned by the deceased that was not also in a joint tenancy with right of survivorship. If there is no spouse and children then the decedent's siblings would inherit. If there is a more tenuous connection than that, then the heirs need to see a probate attorney to figure out what they would be entitled to.

Remember, the 3 surviving members will need to pay an inheritance tax to Pennsylvania. If you pay the tax within three months of the date of death, you get a 5% discount.