Berks County Register Of Wills
Berks County Register Of Wills
About The Register Of Wills/Clerk Of Orphans' Court
The Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphan's Court is an elected official who serves as a dual officeholder and whose primary function is to determine whether the document offered for probate should be received as the last will of the decedent. When disputes arise at the time of probate, the Register, as a quasi-judicial officer, is empowered to hold hearings, take testimony, review evidence and render decisions on how the administration of the estate shall proceed.
Responsibilities as Clerk of Orphan's Court include maintaining the docket and files for adoptions, guardianships and other issues which may come before the Orphans' Court Judge, as well as taking applications for, and issuing, marriage licenses.
Finally, the Register of Wills is a mandated keeper of all records filed here, and since those records must be kept forever, the office is a great resource for genealogical information.
Featured Information
View the Probate Process Page for filings of New Estates. Forms and requirements can be found here.
Applications are filed online only, no in person applications are accepted at this time. See page below for directions.
Estate matters that require judicial disposition are handled in the Orphan's Court, view their page below.
The Register of Wills serves as an agent for the Commonwealth in the collection of state inheritance taxes.
Per an Administrative Order (linked below) all professional/corporate Court appointed guardians will see a fee increase for incapacitated persons who are recipients of Medicaid.
Forms and Resources
- Affidavit Foreign Fiduciary
- Bond Surety Personal Representative
- Certification of Notice
- Entry of Appearance
- Informal Caveat
- Inventory
- Magisterial District Judge Directory
- Notice Appeal Register
- Notice of Beneficial Interest
- Notice of Claim
- Oath of Non-Subscribing Witness
- Oath of Subscribing Witness
- Oath of Unavailable Witness form
- Oath of Witness to be executed by Mark
- Petition for Grant of Letters
- Renunciation
- Estate Information Sheet-REV 346
- Small Estates Affidavit
- Status Report
- Waiver of Fiduciary Bond
Links
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Forms
The above is a list of interactive forms available, they may be duplicated as required or filled out online and printed. To complete form directly in your web-browser, simply "tab" through the form and fill in the appropriate information. Please note that the forms are scanned in "PDF" format, thereby requiring Adobe Reader software to be installed on your computer. This program is available free of charge at the following website: https://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html