Pennsylvania estate tax, inheritance tax & probate costs

What the Pennsylvania Estate Data Reveals

Pennsylvania imposes no state estate tax, so federal law under IRC § 2001 is the only estate-level levy that applies. With a permanent federal exemption of $15M per decedent from 2026, after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (July 2025) repealed the scheduled TCJA sunset, the vast majority of Pennsylvania estates clear probate without owing estate tax at any level. Pennsylvania's common-law property rules keep each spouse's individually titled assets separate, so how property is titled still determines what passes through probate here. Beneficiaries separately face a state inheritance tax; spouses are exempt, but distant relatives and unrelated heirs pay the highest rates under Pennsylvania law.

IRS Statistics of Income data show 271 federal estate tax returns filed by Pennsylvania residents in the most recent available year (filing year 2023), reporting $7.85 billion in combined gross estate value. Net federal estate tax paid totaled $0.77 billion that year. Across the multi-year IRS SOI series above, Pennsylvania averages roughly 237 taxable filings per year, with an effective federal rate on reported gross estates of about 12.0%.

Probate itself typically runs 9–18 months in Pennsylvania (roughly 14 months on average), with court filing fees of $140–$700. Attorney compensation is set by statute at approximately 4% of the estate, which is a material fixed cost even for uncontested estates. Pennsylvania does offer a simplified small-estate track for estates under $50,000, which most families use to bypass full formal probate. Because Pennsylvania has adopted the Uniform Probate Code (since 1972), procedures are broadly standardized across counties. As a common-law (separate property) state, Pennsylvania treats each spouse's holdings individually unless jointly titled, so titling choices drive what actually enters the probate estate.