Time After Death to Pay Debts in Pennsylvania

When a Pennsylvania resident dies, a specific set of steps must be taken by the decedent's family or lawyer. These steps are called probate. The overall process ensures that the decedent's assets are accounted for, all debts get paid and all terms of the decedent's will are carried out as fully as possible. Since a process is required by law, there is a length of time between death and full debt repayment by the estate.

Estate Executor

An estate executor must be assigned by a probate court judge if one was not chosen by the decedent while he was still living. The estate executor or personal estate administrator is the person responsible for settling all debt claims against the estate and ensuring that all assets are distributed as the decedent intended.

Probate Assets

Probate assets are things of value that the decedent owned individually while she was still alive. Probate assets include real property such as a home or vehicle, other valuable items, such as jewelry, and individually held bank or investment accounts, such as a checking or savings account, that did not have a payable on death designation attached to them. The estate executor is responsible for cataloging the probate assets and assessing the current value of each item.

Debt Claims

When a person dies, the personal representative or estate executor is required by law to send out death notices to all known creditors for the decedent. Each creditor is required to stake their debt claim formally against the estate as part of the probate process. In Pennsylvania a creditor has up to one year to make their claim against the estate, otherwise they may not be eligible for final payment.

Estate Settlement

Once all assets are accounted for and all debts are validated on the estate, the executor must begin paying off each debt in the order of priority that is set out by the state. If needed, the estate executor will sell some or all of the estate assets to raise cash to pay off all of the outstanding debts. If the assets are not valuable enough to cover all outstanding debts, the probate judge will order the highest priority debts to be paid first, then evenly distribute remaining funds among lower-priority creditors.