Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

Re: Probates, Trusts, Wills & Estates

Yes. first, debts, including taxes must be paid, and then remaining property must be transferred to the beneficiary under the will. The only way anyone may do this is to file or probate the will and have the Register of Wills [in the county where your father resided at the time of his death] issue Letters Testamentary, which authorize the executor to administer the estate.

If all property owned by your father was owned by him and your mother as tenants by the entirety, such property automatically becomes hers upon the death of your father, without any further legal action. Still, the estate must be administered, and inheritance tax returns, as well as all other tax returns, must be filed and any taxes paid.