Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

Thank you for your question,

Once the principal passes away, the Power of Attorney that he signed while he was alive becomes null, void, and of no further legal effect. So, when your father passed away, the Power of Attorney held by your sister became null and void and did not give her any rights that were superior to your rights as your father's son.

If you believe that your late father had a will, then you should present your evidence of a possible will to the Orphans' Court. If your father did not have a will, then you and all your siblings would stand on an equal footing and share equally in your late father's estate. You would ask the Orphans Court to issue "Letters of Administration" which is how an estate is divided when a decedent has not left a will.

Kindest Regards,

ANDREA

I agree with Attorney Tillis. Powers of attorney are for the living; wills are for the dead. Now that your father is dead, the power of attorney is irrelevant as it is your sister's duty to transfer any remaining assets over to the personal representative of your father's estate. If that is her, then she needs to file your father's will in the county where he lived at the time of his death and open an estate if there are probate assets.

If there is no will, then any of you can be the personal representative.

You do not relate any relevant facts, such as when your father died, whether an estate has been opened, whether there are assets justifying estate administration and any debts of the estate. It really is going to make a difference.

Estates on average take 1-2 years, depending on the size and complexity of the estate, so its not a quick thing. Why so long? Because there is inheritance tax in PA (assuming your father was a PA resident at the time of his death) and the revenue department has to sign off on this. There are some other deadlines - notice has to be given to the creditors, an inventory of assets filed and an accounting filed before there can be any distributiion.

This comes as a shock but a parent is not obligated to leave a child anything at all so I would not assume that you are entitled to 1/3rd of the net estate unless there was no will. A parent can disinherit a child. Or, any debts of the estate have to be paid before the heirs get anything and debts can eat up a small estate,

What you should do is contact the county probate called (called the Orphans' Court in PA if that is where your father lived at the time of his death) and see if a will has been filed and if an estate has been opened. If so, make a copy of the court file and pay a probate attorney who practices in the county where the estate is pending to review the file. If no will has been filed and no estate is open, then you need to go see a probate attorney anyway. If you believe your sister is hiding the will, then she can be compelled to produce it,. If there is no will then the attorney can help you appply to be administrator of the estate.

Be prepared to have a list of all potential heirs and a general overview of your father's assets and debts as well as any other relevant documents like copies of any old/current wills or the power of attorney.