Yes, wills are public record in Pennsylvania, but only after two things happen: the person dies, and someone files the will with the county Register of Wills for probate. Before that, the document is private. After probate, anyone can ask to see it, and you don’t have to be a relative, a beneficiary, or explain why you want it.
When a Will Stops Being Private
During the writer’s lifetime, a will belongs to them alone. No family member, business partner, or agency can demand to see it without consent. That changes at death, and only if the will is submitted to probate.
The trigger is the filing itself. Once the Register of Wills accepts the document and issues a probate decree, it enters the public record. The openness has a practical function: heirs can confirm what they’re entitled to, creditors can decide whether to file claims, and the court can oversee distribution. Pennsylvania’s court system operates under a presumption that case records are open, grounded in both the common law and state judicial policy.1Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Case Records Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania
Not everything in the probate file is open, though. Federal estate tax returns, including IRS Form 706, are protected by Internal Revenue Code Section 6103 and are not disclosed without authorization.2Internal Revenue Service. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Guidelines The will is public; the detailed financial accounting behind it generally is not.
Which Office Holds the Will
Every county in Pennsylvania has its own Register of Wills, an elected official who handles probate filings, grants authority to executors, and keeps estate records for that county.3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 20 – Register’s Jurisdiction Jurisdiction follows where the person lived at death. A Philadelphia resident’s will is in the Philadelphia Register of Wills; a Lancaster County resident’s file sits in Lancaster. If the deceased owned real property in another county but had no personal property outside their home county, the home county still handles probate.
How to Search for a Probated Will
To find a specific will, gather these details first:
- Full legal name of the deceased, including maiden names or known aliases, because records are indexed by the name on the probate petition.
- County of residence at death, which tells you which Register of Wills to contact.
- Approximate date of death, useful for narrowing results when the name is common.
Many Register of Wills offices offer online search tools where you enter the name and date of death to check whether a file exists. Philadelphia provides docket access through its Orphans’ Court Division portal.4First Judicial District, Pennsylvania. Orphans’ Court Division – Docket Access Bucks County has its own web viewer for Register of Wills records.5Bucks County, PA. E-Filing and Online Records Searches The statewide Pennsylvania Judiciary Web Portal at ujsportal.pacourts.us also offers some search capability, though depth varies county by county.
If nothing turns up online, call the Register of Wills in the relevant county. Staff can tell you whether a will has been filed and explain how to request a copy.
Viewing or Getting a Copy
This is where expectations often trip people up. Docket information and court orders are generally available online, but Pennsylvania’s Public Access Policy specifically limits remote access to most probate case records. Under Section 10.0 of the policy, the contents of probate files, including the will itself, are excluded from remote public access, with exceptions only for dockets, court orders, and opinions.6Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Case Records Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania – Section 10.0
The reliable way to actually read a probated will is to visit the Register of Wills office in person during business hours or send a written request by mail. Some counties have voluntarily digitized older files and put them on their own portals, but that’s not guaranteed, especially for estates before the mid-2010s.
Fees vary by county. Dauphin County, as one example, charges $1.00 per uncertified photocopy and $10.00 for a certified copy of up to five pages, with $1.00 for each additional page. A certified copy of the will itself is $50.00.7Dauphin County, PA. Register of Wills and Orphans’ Court Fee Schedule Other counties set their own schedules and update them periodically, so confirm the amount before sending payment. In-person requests are often filled the same day.
What Stays Private After Probate
Sealing a probated will from public view is rare. It requires a court order and a strong showing of harm; wanting privacy for its own sake is not enough. Requests typically need to point to something like a credible threat of identity theft, physical danger, or comparable circumstances that outweigh the public’s right of access. Most are denied.
What courts do routinely is require redaction of sensitive identifiers before documents become publicly accessible. The Case Records Public Access Policy lists several categories that must not appear in public filings: Social Security numbers, financial account numbers (except the last four digits when the account is the subject of the case), driver’s license numbers, and state identification numbers.8Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Case Records Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania – Section 7.0 The substance of the will stays open; the identifiers that fuel identity theft do not.
If You See Something Wrong: Your Deadline to Contest
If you view a probated will and believe the testator was coerced, lacked mental capacity, or that the document wasn’t properly executed, the window to act is limited. Pennsylvania law gives any interested party one year from the date of the probate decree to appeal to the Orphans’ Court.9Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 20 – Appeals
That year isn’t guaranteed. The court can shorten it to as little as three months if a party in interest petitions for the deadline to be compressed. Once the appeal period runs out, the probate decree is effectively permanent. People who delay searching for a will sometimes discover a problem after the clock has already stopped.
When No Will Turns Up
If nothing appears in the Register of Wills records, one of three things is happening: the person never made a will, no one has filed it yet, or the estate was small enough that the family handled matters outside formal probate. When someone dies without a valid will in Pennsylvania, property passes under the state’s intestate succession rules, and distribution depends on which relatives survived. A surviving spouse with no children or parents inherits everything; a surviving spouse plus children shared with that spouse takes the first $30,000 plus half the remainder, with the children splitting the rest; other combinations follow their own splits.
If you believe a will exists but hasn’t been filed, contact the family or the deceased’s attorney. Absence from the public record doesn’t always mean no will was written. Anyone who holds a deceased person’s will has a legal duty to submit it, and intentional concealment is a crime. Under 18 Pa.C.S. ยง 4103, destroying, removing, or concealing a will with intent to deceive or injure anyone is a felony of the third degree, punishable by up to seven years in prison.10New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Pennsylvania Code Title 18 – Fraudulent Destruction, Removal or Concealment of Recordable Instruments The classic pattern prosecutors look for is an heir who was cut out of the will hiding it so the estate passes to them under intestacy instead.