Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

Your question is not very clear; but I will try to answer it. I will assume that the deed was not held jointly by you and your wife. I will also assume that neither you nor your wife had other children. I don't know whether the children are minors. It makes a big difference. Legal title to the home went to your spouse's heirs (you & the children) at her death if no one was appointed to be an Administrator or Executor. You should first have a good title search done to determine whether there are liens, unpaid taxes, & etc. If title is clean and the children are minors you may want to simply do nothing. Insurance will be a problem. Pay the taxes. If no one is owed anything no one will bother you. Inheritance taxes will be due on the portion belonging to the children. If the children are adults you will need their cooperation. If minors it may be better to open an estate to protect their interests.

If there is no will then your wife did not leave anything to anybody As noted by Attorney Narcisi, assuming the land was just deeded in your wife's name, then it transferred at death automatically to your wife's heirs, which are you and the children. A new deed does not need done necessarily. But there are all kinds of issues. How old are the daughters? Are they adult? Are they also your daughters? Do you have any plans to sell the property? Is the property mortgaged? Was an estate ever probated for your wife? If not, why not? Were there any debts of the estate?

How actually was the property titled as of the date of your wife's death? If you do not know then contact the register of deeds and get a copy of the deed. Who is listed as the grantee? Just your wife? Or does it say the land was owned by you and your wife as husband and wife or other similar words? If the latter, then the land would automatically pass to you as of the minute of death. in that case, you would be the sole owner of the property and would not need a deed. And the daughters would not be entitled to any of the realty.

I would agree with Attorney Narcisi. You need to go and talk to a probate attorney to find out whether an estate needs probated at this juncture and to go over exactly how the property is titled. If the property needs to be probated then you need to know if the children are adults are not. And you do need to know whether there are mortgage or any other liens against the property.