Letters of Administration Appointment Requirements in Pennsylvania

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Register, estate type, and county

Section 901 places the grant of letters with the county Register of Wills. Section 3151 sends a Pennsylvania domiciliary's case to the county of the last family or principal residence. A nondomiciliary case may be opened in a county containing estate property, and the grant then is exclusive throughout Pennsylvania.

Ordinary intestate letters and administration with the will annexed share this grant-of-letters system. Section 3158 authorizes letters c.t.a. when a will exists but no executor qualifies; § 3155 supplies the entitlement order. The connected rules in §§ 3155-3158 also cover qualification and nonresidents.

Who applies and what RW-02 contains

Section 3153 requires a sworn petition stating the decedent's identity, age, domicile, last residence, and death facts; the applicable values and locations of personal and Pennsylvania real property; the name and residence address of each proposed representative; and all other entitlement facts.

Pennsylvania's RW-02 petition serves both administration and c.t.a. requests. It identifies each adult petitioner, decedent and estate values, Pennsylvania real estate, and the requested form of letters. An intestate applicant states a proper will search and lists the surviving spouse and heirs. A c.t.a. applicant identifies the will date and completes the heir list. The form combines the petition verification with the personal representative's administration oath.

Appointment order and the thirty-day protection

Section 3155 permits departure for good cause, but otherwise begins with people entitled to the residuary estate under a will. It then ranks the surviving spouse; intestate takers whom the register judges will best administer, with preference by share size; principal creditors; other fit persons; a renouncer's nominee; the specified guardianship support agency; and a redevelopment authority.

Principal creditors, other fit persons, and a redevelopment authority ordinarily cannot receive letters until thirty days after death. Earlier appointment in those classes requires consent from the residuary, spouse, and intestate-taker classes identified in § 3155(c).

Qualification and nonresidents

Sections 3155-3157 bar a person under eighteen, an unauthorized corporation, a person the register finds unfit unless that person is the will-named executor, the specified foreign-country interest nominee when benefit is doubtful, and a person facing a covered homicide or manslaughter charge connected to the death.

Pennsylvania does not impose an absolute resident-only rule. Section 3157 gives the register discretion to refuse letters of administration to any individual who is not a Pennsylvania resident.

Renunciation and nomination

Under § 3155(b)(6), a priority holder may renounce and the register may prefer that person's nominee over people in later classes. RW-06 is the statewide renunciation form. It identifies the renouncer's capacity or relationship, expressly renounces administration, requests letters for another person, and is signed. Execution occurs under oath in the register's office or through the form's out-of-office acknowledgment.

Caveat, dispute, and appeal

The cited grant-of-letters scheme does not impose a universal pregrant notice or hearing. A party may instead file a caveat. Under § 906, the caveat cannot delay letters more than ten days unless the caveator posts the register-set bond of $500 to $5,000 within the statutory period or obtains an extension for cause.

Section 907 permits the register, or the court on an interested party's petition, to certify the entire disputed record to court. Section 908 allows an aggrieved party in interest to appeal the register's decree, ordinarily within one year, while providing that an appeal does not suspend an appointed personal representative's powers or prejudice the representative's acts.

Oath, bond, and issuance

Under § 3161, the faithful-administration oath comes before letters. Section 3171 makes a Commonwealth bond with sufficient surety the default and lets the register set the amount by the personal-estate value entering the representative's control.

Section 3174 exempts specified corporate fiduciaries. Unless the will or court requires bond, it also exempts a resident administrator who is the sole residuary legatee or next of kin, or is nominated by all residuary legatees or next of kin who are adults and legally capable. Once nondomiciliary letters are granted in a proper county, § 3151 makes them exclusive throughout the Commonwealth.

What trips people up

The Orphans' Court Division is not the ordinary first filing office. Section 901 assigns the initial grant of letters to the Register of Wills; a caveat or dispute may later move the record to court under § 907.

The priority list is not limited to intestate heirs. Section 3155 places people entitled to the residuary estate under a will first, which matters when a will exists but no executor qualifies.

Common questions

Can the register choose someone outside the stated order?

Potentially. Section 3155 makes the order controlling except for good cause and also gives the register selection discretion within the intestate-taker class.

Can a nonresident serve as administrator?

Possibly, but § 3157 allows the register to refuse letters to any nonresident individual. Bond treatment is a separate question under §§ 3171 and 3174.

Does an appeal stop the administrator from acting?

Not by itself. Section 908(c) says an appeal from the register's decree does not suspend the powers or prejudice the acts of a personal representative who has received letters.

Statutes and sources

• 20 Pa.C.S. §§ 901 and 906-908 (accessed 2026-08-09).
• 20 Pa.C.S. §§ 3151, 3153, 3155-3158, 3161, 3171, and 3174 (accessed 2026-08-09).
• Pennsylvania Register of Wills Form RW-02 (accessed 2026-08-09).
• Pennsylvania Register of Wills Form RW-06 (accessed 2026-08-09).