From the information given, it appears that the best thing to do to protect against capital gain tax on your mother's house after her death is to do nothing. If she holds ownership of the house until her death, there will be stepped up basis for calculating capital gain. That is, the capital... View More

It is fairly simple to renounce your right to administer an estate in Pennsylvania. You fill out form Orphans Court Form RW-06 (you can download it) including filling in who is agreeing to administer the estate in your place. You have to sign the form in the presence of a notary. You give the... View More

A guardianship of a minor's estate is required if the amount of the minor's assets exceeds $25,000.00. A guardianship of a minor's would be established by petitioning through the Orphans Court Division of the Court in your county.

It is important to note, however that while... View More

If both you and your husband's name are on the deeds for these properties, then your ownership probably was "tenancy by the entireties" - a form of ownership for married couples under which when one spouse dies, the suriving spouse becomes the sole owner by survivorship. The... View More

The short answer is no. The house must pass through the estate administration. The executor must first ensure that your grandfather's debts, if any are addressed, that the administrative expenses of the estate are paid, and the required inheritance tax and any other tax obligations that may... View More

Pennsylvania law says: "No common-law marriage contracted after January 1, 2005, shall be valid." If the couple were together since before 2005, there MAY be a common law marriage. However, validity of a common law marriage requires more than just living together for a certain period of... View More

To fully answer your question would require additional information because whether or not you can keep the house will depend upon a number of factors. Are there other assets which can be used to pay off the mortgage? Are there other debts beside the mortgage which must be paid? Are there other... View More

As a practical matter, if the credit card issuers are notified by letter that your father is deceased, there are no assets available to pay their bills and the family is not raising an estate administration, the likely result will be they will write off the balance. To the extent there is any... View More

There is not a clear answer to this question. It would be necessary to review the Power of Attorney document to see if it grants to the agent the power to make such a gift. It would also be necessary to evaluate whether or not this transfer was in the interest of the parents (such as for estate... View More

The executrix stands as your deceased father's personal representative so she can decide who can enter the property. The rest of the beneficiaries have a beneficial interest. If you believe the estate is not being administered properly or the property is not being maintained, you can file a... View More

If your father was a resident of Pennsylvania and did not have a will, the Pennsylvania intestate succession law would apply. In a situation where the deceased was married and one or more of his children was not also the child of the spouse, then the spouse's share would be one-half of the... View More

These bank accounts are counted as part of the total of assets that count toward calculating the 1/3 elective share even if the accounts were specifically left the decedent's daughter. Whether the surviving spouse actually receives money out of the accounts depends upon whether there are... View More

The inheritance tax on the house is based upon its value on the date of death. The PA Department of Revenue allows a choice of three methods for determining the date of death value. One is gross sale price, if sold within 15 months after date of death, which apparently does not apply to your... View More

To completely answer your question, I would need more information. Concerning the first part of your question, what happens in the event of your husband dying before you, it depends upon the form of shared titled your husband and daughter have on this property. If your husband and daughter own... View More

In Pennsylvania, you can sign a document called a "disclaimer" which indicates you wish to not receive either all or part of what you would inherit. If you sign a disclaimer, for purposes of the estate administration, you would be considered to have died before your father. The question... View More

Please accept my condolences for your loss. Perhaps an easier way to address this problem is to work around it. If you and your husband were both on the deed, that is a tenancy by the entireties which means that upon your husband's death, by the rule of survivorship, you became the sole... View More

Under Pennsylvania law when there is no will, assuming that your mother was not married at the time of her death, the estate would be divided into equal shares - one share for each living child and one share for each deceased child who has living children or descendants. Each living child would... View More