Allentown Living Trust: Lehigh County Register of Wills and Deed Recording

By Rozsa Gyene, California estate planning attorney, State Bar of California #208356. Published October 1, 2026. Last reviewed October 1, 2026.

Which county this page covers

This page covers Lehigh County. Under 20 Pa.C.S. 3151 letters are granted "only by the register of the county where the decedent had his last family or principal residence", and the Recorder of Deeds says documents "must be related to real estate in Lehigh County and must contain the parcel identifier, municipality, county and state "where the parcel is located". The county's transfer tax page sets a separate local rate "for City of Allentown", which is how the county's own pages treat Allentown property as recorded there. An Allentown mailing address outside Lehigh County is served by that county's register and recorder.

The Register of Wills division

The Register of Wills page says: "The primary responsibilities of this office include the probate of estates and to act as an agent for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the collection of inheritance taxes." It warns that staff "is not permitted to offer any assistance or advice in the preparation and filing of any documentation required to raise an estate", that "it is suggested you contact an attorney", and that the forms it offers are not "a statement that no other forms are necessary". By statute the register has "jurisdiction of the probate of wills, the grant of letters to a personal representative, and any other matter as provided by law" (20 Pa.C.S. 901). The Orphans' Court is the division of the court of common pleas through which jurisdiction over "the administration and distribution of the real and personal property of decedents' estates" is exercised (20 Pa.C.S. 711), with the register continuing "to grant letters testamentary and of administration to personal representatives as heretofore".

The 2026 fee schedule for letters

The schedule, "Effective January 1, 2026" and revised 09/12/25, is based on the estimated value of "Total Gross Probatable Assets" (lines 1 to 5 of the inheritance tax return): "At the time of filing the Petition for Letters an estimate of the gross probate value of the Estate is required. Additional probate fees will be charged if the Inheritance Tax Return Assessment value is greater than the original estimate. No Refund is issued if the actual gross value is less than the estimated gross value."

Collected at case initiation on top of that: the Judicial Computer Project fee of $41.25, an automation fee of $5.00 and an e-filing fee of $5.00. Short certificates are $10.00 each, a will lodged is $50.00, a renunciation $5.00 and an inheritance tax return $20.00. "All pleadings are to be filed electronically"; paper pleadings cost $1.00 per page under local Orphans' Court Rule 4.7-1, and a card fee applies to credit or debit payments.

Small estates

Where the decedent's property "exclusive of real estate", counting personal property claimed as the family exemption, has "a gross value not exceeding $50,000", 20 Pa.C.S. 3102 lets "the orphans' court division of the county wherein the decedent was domiciled" direct distribution on petition "with or without appraisement", and the decree "shall in all respects have the same effect as a decree of distribution after an accounting by a personal representative". The section's amendment history ends with Act 35 of 2013, and the General Assembly's 2026 act list shows no act touching Title 20. The Lehigh schedule does not price that petition by name. The Pennsylvania small estates guide explains the petition.

Recording a deed with the Recorder of Deeds division

The division "maintains land records of real estate located in Lehigh County" and records and indexes deeds, mortgages, powers of attorney and plans, and it collects and distributes realty transfer tax "to the Department of Revenue, local municipalities, and school districts". It states plainly that its office does not provide forms for the preparation of documents, and "We are not authorized to provide legal advice or opinions."

From the Recording Guidelines: paper no larger than 8.5 by 14 inches; original signatures in dark ink; a 3 inch top margin on the first page with its right side left blank for the recorder, 1 inch margins elsewhere; "No seals or stamps shall cover signatures or printed text"; the parcel number, municipality, county and state; "All deeds, mortgages and assignments of mortgage must have a signed certified address for the grantee"; and an acknowledgment that includes "County, State, date, person or corporate officer's names, title and company name of person appearing, notary signature, stamp/seal, and expiration date", with names at the signature and in the acknowledgment "exactly the same". The guidelines note that "Deeds cannot be re-recorded".

Transfer tax: a document "where there is a transfer of an interest in real estate is subject to Realty Transfer Tax" at "the rate of 1% for the state and 1% (1.5 % for City of Allentown)" for the local tax, computed on the consideration or, where none is paid, on the assessed value adjusted to market value. "Conveyances between husband and wife, parent and child, grandparent and grandchild, and brothers and sisters are generally exempt", and "Statements of Value must accompany all transfers not paying a full transfer tax or stating the full consideration, or transfers claiming an exemption (except for a family exemption which must be clearly stated on the document)". The Statement of Value is Department of Revenue form REV-183, filed in duplicate with an original signature, and the county refers questions about exemptions to the Department at 717-783-8104 or an attorney. The county pages do not say whether a deed to the trustee of the owner's own revocable trust is exempt, so that is a question for the Statement of Value, not this page.

Payment: "Cash, checks, money orders, and credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Discover) accepted"; credit cards are accepted for recording fees only, not for transfer tax, with a 2.25 percent card fee. Checks are payable to "Recorder of Deeds", must show the account holder's address, and "The 1% State Realty Transfer Tax, 1% (1.5% for City of Allentown) Local Realty Transfer Tax and recording fee may be combined in one check". Overpayments of $10.00 or less are forfeited; a larger overpayment gets the document rejected.

What a living trust changes for an Allentown homeowner

The Register of Wills raises an estate out of what the decedent owned in his or her own name, and prices letters by that gross value. A home already conveyed to the trustee of a living trust is not in that pool: at death the successor trustee deals with it under the trust document, and 20 Pa.C.S. 711(3) gives the orphans' court division jurisdiction over such a trust only if a matter is brought to it. The step that makes this work is the $81.25 deed recorded in Room 122, with its parcel certification and Statement of Value, while the owner is alive. Anything left outside the trust goes through the steps in the Pennsylvania probate process guide.