Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

Rule 6.12. Status report by personal representative.

(a) Report of uncompleted administration. If administration of an estate has not been completed within two years of the decedent�s death, the personal representative or counsel shall file at such time, and annually thereafter until the administration is completed, a report with the Register of Wills showing the date by which the personal representative or counsel reasonably believes administration will be completed.

(b) Report of completed administration. Upon completion of the administration of an estate, the personal representative of his, her or its counsel shall file with the Register of Wills a report showing:

(1) completion of administration of the estate;

(2) whether a formal account was filed with the Orphans� Court;

(3) whether a complete account was informally stated to all parties in interest;

(4) whether final distribution has been completed; and

(5) whether approvals of the accounts, receipts, joinders and releases have been filed with the Clerk of the Orphans� Court.

(c) Form of report. The report required by this Rule shall be in substantially the form adopted by the Supreme Court.

(d) No fee. No fee shall be charged for filing the report required by this Rule.

(e) Copy of rule. Upon the grant of letters, the Register shall give a copy of this Rule to each personal representative and his, her or its counsel.

(f) Failure to file a report. After at least ten (10) days prior notice to a delinquent personal representative and counsel, the Clerk of the Orphans� Court shall inform the Court of the failure to file the report required by this Rule with a request that the Court conduct a hearing to determine what sanctions, if any, should be imposed.

Here is a link to the status report forms; it is online and available free of charge:

http://www.pacourts.us/NR/rdonlyres/391DB544-9E67-4704-A143-D3E58388A695/0/OCRFormRW10.pdf

Here is a link to a form for a Model Account:

http://www.pacourts.us/NR/rdonlyres/651447CC-9A18-4103-9253-61772D063B6C/0/ModelEstateAcct.pdf

I am not sure what form you are talking about. Just informing the heirs is not enough. You need receipts/releases from the heirs if you have distributed property to them before confirmation of the final account. If you have not made a final distribution and approval has been given by the taxing authorities, then you are ready to file the final account and you must serve it upon them as the heirs/beneficiaries can object if they want.

When an executor distributes property from the estate, he or she does so at his own risk if it is done before the final account is filed. To get around this, if there is no problem with the tax authorities, many executors will make distribution to the heirs or beneficiaries but require them to sign a release or receipt acknowledging that they received certain property. The executor can also send them an informal account - to get their approval before the final accounting is filed. That makes confirmation of the account a more streamlined process.

Most executors have attorneys and judging by your questions, this appears confusing for you, In such case, you really need to consider hiring an attorney instead of trying to get piecemeal free legal advice here.