Probate and estate bonds in Pennsylvania

• No exemption in section 3174 applies, so section 3171 requires a bond before the register grants letters.
• The will requires a bond, which the opening words of section 3174(b) preserve.
• The court requires one, increases it, or changes the security on cause shown under section 3175(a), after whatever notice it directs.
• The register, having examined the inventory or the inheritance tax return, finds the security insufficient and directs additional security under section 3175(b).
• The decedent was himself acting as a fiduciary, and the register requires a separate bond for that fiduciary estate under section 3173.

Section 3174 is titled when not required, and it has two halves. Subsection (a) exempts corporate personal representatives: banks and trust companies chartered in Pennsylvania, national banks with their principal office in the Commonwealth, and out-of-state corporate fiduciaries whose home state extends a like exemption to Pennsylvania corporations. Subsection (b) exempts individuals, but only unless a bond is ordered by the court or required by the will, and only in defined cases. A person named in the will qualifies if they are a Pennsylvania resident, or if the testator expressly directed that no bond be required, or if they are a non-resident serving with a resident co-representative and the petition states that the resident co-representative will take and keep custody and control of all estate assets. A person not named in the will qualifies if they are a Pennsylvania resident and are the sole residuary legatee or next of kin, or the nominee of all the adult, competent residuary legatees or next of kin.

Pennsylvania is explicit here, and the answer sits in the structure of section 3174(b) rather than in a provision of its own. Both branches of the individual exemption are conditioned on Pennsylvania residence: the person named in the will qualifies if they are a resident, and the person not named in the will qualifies if they are a resident and stand as sole residuary legatee or next of kin, or as the nominee of all the adult competent ones. A non-resident therefore has two routes left. The testator may have expressly directed that no bond be required, which section 3174(b) honours regardless of where the executor lives. Or the non-resident may serve alongside a resident co-representative, where the petition states that the resident co-representative will take and keep custody and control of all the estate's assets. Absent one of those, section 3171 operates and the register sets a bond. This is the single most common reason a Pennsylvania file reaches us, and it is worth raising with the register before letters are applied for rather than after.

Section 3102 lets the Orphans' Court Division for the county of the decedent's domicile, on the petition of any party in interest and in its discretion, with or without appraisement, direct distribution of property of a gross value not exceeding $50,000 — a figure that excludes real estate and the small payments the Code allows to be made without administration. It works whether or not letters have been issued or a will probated, and owning real estate does not bar distribution of the personal property. The decree authorises transfer agents and others to recognise the people named in it. Note the tail: any party in interest may petition to revoke an improper distribution within one year of the decree.

Tell us the bond amount the court set and we will place it. Most Pennsylvania files are issued the same day once the application is in.

• Probate bonds in California — Bond is the default unless the will or every beneficiary waives it, and the court can still require one for good cause.
• Probate bonds in Texas — A will can dispense with the bond where the court finds the executor qualified, and the amount is built from personal property rather than land.
• Probate bonds in New York — The Surrogate's Court counts eighteen months of rents in the bond, and a non-domiciliary executor can be required to post one even where the will excuses it.
• Probate bonds in Arizona — A bond is required unless the will or every heir waives it, and real estate counts toward the amount unless the letters restrict sales to court confirmation.
• Probate bonds in Michigan — No bond is required in an informal proceeding, until a beneficiary or creditor over the threshold files a written demand — which needs no court finding.

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