Pennsylvania Probate Costs: County Fees, Inheritance Tax, and Attorney Fees

Pennsylvania probate costs come from several places, not one bill. You pay a county Register of Wills fee to open the estate, you may pay for short certificates, you usually pay for newspaper and legal-journal advertising, and the estate often owes inheritance tax based on who inherits. Bond premiums and attorney fees can add more.

This guide breaks each cost apart so you can estimate a realistic number. Start with the Pennsylvania probate guide for the full filing path, and use the Pennsylvania probate timeline to see when each cost lands.

What Probate Costs in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has no single statewide probate fee. The largest hard numbers usually break down like this:

• County Register of Wills probate fee to open the estate and grant letters. This is set county by county and graduated by estate value.
• Short certificate fees for certified proof of the personal representative's authority.
• Inheritance tax, which is often the biggest cost and depends on the relationship between the decedent and each beneficiary.
• Advertising and publication of the grant of letters.
• Bond premium, if the will or court requires a fiduciary bond.
• Attorney fees, if you hire counsel, charged on a reasonableness standard rather than a fixed statutory percentage.

The first thing to know: court filing fees and inheritance tax are different costs, set by different bodies, and tracked on different calendars. The county Register of Wills sets the filing fee. The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue sets and collects the inheritance tax.

The County Register of Wills Probate Fee

Pennsylvania does not publish one statewide probate fee schedule. Each county's Register of Wills sets its own fee bill, and those fees are usually graduated by the value of the estate being probated. A register may establish or change these fees by order of court under 42 P.S. § 21022.1. That means the same estate can cost a different amount to open in Philadelphia than it does in Bucks County or Allegheny County.

Because of that, do not treat any single number as universal. Look up your filing county's current fee bill before you budget. Use the Pennsylvania county probate directory to find the Register of Wills office where the decedent lived, then ask that office for its current fee schedule or look for the fee bill on the county website.

Example county fee schedules

These are real examples from two counties, shown to illustrate the graduated structure. They are not statewide rates, and your county may differ.

Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Register of Wills publishes a graduated total probate fee tied to the probate value. The schedule starts around $174.24 for an estate valued at $0 to $250 and rises by tier. An estate valued from $50,000.01 to $200,000 shows a total fee near $475.25, and the schedule reaches about $1,315.25 for the first $1,000,000, with $90 added for each additional $100,000. These figures come from the Philadelphia Register of Wills fee schedule and include base fee, the family court filing fee, and statutory filing fees.

Bucks County. A Bucks County fee bill published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin starts at $50.00 for an estate of $0 to $250 and adds $150 for each additional $100,000 above the top published tier. The short certificate fee is listed at $10.00.

The pattern is the same statewide even when the numbers are not: a base fee that climbs as the estate value climbs. A small estate might pay under $200 to open. A larger estate can pay over $1,000 in county fees alone. Confirm your own county's tiers before you rely on a figure.

Short Certificate Fees

A short certificate is the county document that proves the personal representative's current authority. Banks, brokerages, title companies, and transfer agents commonly ask for one before they release or retitle an asset. See the short certificate guide for how the document works and how many copies to order.

Each certificate carries a per-copy fee set by the county. In the Philadelphia and Bucks County schedules above, a short certificate is listed at $10.00 each. Order one for each asset holder that demands an original, since some institutions will not accept a photocopy. A handful of certificates at roughly $10 each is a small line item next to the filing fee and inheritance tax, but it adds up if many institutions each want their own.

Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax as a Cost

For many estates, inheritance tax is the single largest cost of settling the estate, larger than every court fee combined. Pennsylvania taxes the transfer of property at death, and the rate depends on the relationship between the decedent and the person who inherits. The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue lists these rates, set under 72 P.S. § 9116:

The Department of Revenue says inheritance tax payments are due at the decedent's death and become delinquent nine months after death. There is also an early-payment discount: if the tax is paid within three months of death, Pennsylvania allows a 5 percent discount on the tax paid. On a large taxable transfer, that discount can outweigh every filing fee in this guide, so it is worth checking the three-month date early.

Inheritance tax is its own subject with its own forms and schedules. The Pennsylvania inheritance tax guide covers rates, exemptions, the discount window, and how the tax fits next to probate. Read it before you estimate a total cost, because the relationship of each heir can move the number more than any court fee.

Bond Premium

Pennsylvania may require the personal representative to post a fiduciary bond, which protects the estate if the representative mishandles assets. A will often waives bond for the named executor. When a bond is required, the estate pays an annual premium to a surety company, and the premium is usually a small percentage of the bond amount tied to the estate's value.

Bond cost is not a fixed statewide figure, so treat any number as an estimate until your county and surety provide a quote. If the will waives bond or all interested parties agree to waive it where the court allows, this cost can drop to zero. Ask the Register of Wills whether a bond is required for your filing before you assume the expense.

Advertising and Publication

Pennsylvania law requires the personal representative to advertise the grant of letters. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3162, notice runs once a week for three successive weeks in one newspaper of general circulation near where the decedent lived and in the legal periodical designated for legal notices in that county.

You pay both publications for those three weeks. The exact charge depends on the newspaper and legal journal rates in your county and the length of the notice, so this is an estimate rather than a fixed fee. Many estates spend somewhere in the low-to-mid hundreds of dollars on the combined newspaper and legal-journal advertising. Ask your county's legal journal for current line rates if you want a firm number.

Attorney Fees

Pennsylvania does not set attorney fees for estates by a fixed statutory percentage. The standard is reasonableness: fees must be reasonable for the work performed. Lawyers and clients commonly agree on one of these arrangements:

• Hourly billing for the time the attorney and staff spend on the estate.
• A percentage of the estate, often discussed against an informal guideline some Pennsylvania attorneys reference. That guideline is a custom, not a binding statute, and a court reviews fees for reasonableness regardless of the method.
• A flat fee for a defined scope, common for simpler estates.

Get the fee basis in writing before work starts, and ask what the fee covers and what falls outside it. Simple estates with cooperative heirs cost less in legal fees than estates with disputes, real estate sales, business interests, or contested claims. You are not required to hire an attorney for every Pennsylvania estate, though many personal representatives do for anything beyond a small, clean estate.

Ways to Reduce Costs

You can lower several of these costs with planning and timing:

• Avoid probate where it makes sense. Assets that pass by beneficiary designation, joint ownership with survivorship, or a trust can skip the county filing entirely. See how to avoid probate in Pennsylvania. Note that avoiding probate does not by itself avoid inheritance tax, which can still apply to non-probate transfers.
• Capture the inheritance tax discount. If the estate has enough information and cash, paying within three months of death earns the 5 percent discount.
• Order only the short certificates you need. Ask each institution whether it requires an original before you buy extra copies.
• Ask about bond waiver. A waiver in the will, or agreement among interested parties where the court allows, can remove the bond premium.
• Match the attorney scope to the estate. A flat fee or limited-scope engagement can cost less than full hourly representation on a simple estate.

A Note on This Guide

This guide is general information about Pennsylvania probate costs, not legal or tax advice. County fee bills, advertising rates, and bond premiums change and vary by county. Inheritance tax outcomes depend on the specific facts of each estate. Confirm current figures with your county Register of Wills and the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, and consult a Pennsylvania attorney or tax professional for advice about your situation.

Sources

• Title: Inheritance Tax. Publisher: Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Date: Current agency page, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/revenue/resources/tax-types-and-information/inheritance-tax
• Title: 72 P.S. § 9116, Inheritance tax. Publisher: Pennsylvania General Assembly (statute). Date: Current law, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://codes.findlaw.com/pa/title-72-ps-taxation-and-fiscal-affairs/pa-st-sect-72-9116/
• Title: Register of Wills Probate and Estate Services Fee Schedule. Publisher: City of Philadelphia, Register of Wills. Date: Effective August 1, 2016, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://www.phila.gov/documents/register-of-wills-fee-schedule/
• Title: Fees of the register of wills (Bucks County fee bill notice). Publisher: Pennsylvania Bulletin (Vol. 46, No. 39). Date: 2016, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pabull?file=/secure/pabulletin/data/vol46/46-39/1637.html
• Title: 20 Pa.C.S. § 3162, Advertisement of grant of letters. Publisher: Pennsylvania General Assembly. Date: Current official code page, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/20/00.031.062.000..HTM
• Title: 42 P.S. § 21022.1, Register of Wills fee authority. Publisher: Pennsylvania General Assembly (statute, referenced in county fee bills). Date: Current law, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pabull?file=/secure/pabulletin/data/vol46/46-39/1637.html