Scranton Living Trust: Lackawanna 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 Lackawanna County. Under 20 Pa.C.S. 3151, letters on a Pennsylvania decedent's estate are granted "only by the register of the county where the decedent had his last family or principal residence", and the Recorder of Deeds records "documents relating to property in Lackawanna County". Both offices sit at 123 Wyoming Avenue in Scranton. A Scranton mailing address that lies in another county is served by that county's register of wills and recorder of deeds.

The Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court

The county's page for the office is brief: "This website is intended to benefit the public and those who frequent the office of the Register of Wills." Its forms list is where the office's work shows: a "Petition for Probate, Grant of Letters", an "Estate Information Sheet", oaths of subscribing and non-subscribing witnesses, an "Oath of Personal Representative", a "Waiver of Fiduciary Bond", a "Notice of Intention to Appeal from Register", the Orphans' Court Rule 10.5 notice of estate administration and certification, and a form titled for the Title 20 "Payments to Family/Funeral Directors/Settlement of Small Estates Not Exceeding $50,000". In 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), and the court of common pleas acts on "the administration and distribution of the real and personal property of decedents' estates" and on inter vivos trusts "through its orphans' court division" (20 Pa.C.S. 711), the register continuing "to grant letters testamentary and of administration to personal representatives as heretofore".

The office's questions page says: "Pennsylvania law does not state that a person must have an attorney to open an estate, but it is highly recommended. Please understand that our staff cannot provide you with legal advice." "You must have the decedent's original will to open an estate"; probating a copy requires a hearing before the Register. wills "are only filed with this office" after "a person's death", so to find an original will it suggests "the decedent's attorney, safety deposit box or residence". A personal representative "has up to 21 years from the date of death of the decedent to open an estate without obtaining a court order". On inheritance tax, payments and returns go to the Register at Suite 521, checks payable to "Register of Wills, Agent"; "Generally, Inheritance Tax payments are due within nine months from the date of death; however, if you pay within three months from the date of death, you will qualify for a five percent discount."

Fee schedule effective January 2, 2026

The Orphans' Court of Lackawanna County approved the Register's schedule by order in 2025, "effective January 2, 2026". The posted copy is a scanned image; the figures below are the ones that read clearly, and the full grant of letters table runs from $10,000 to $3,000,000 on the posted schedule.

The schedule also states: "A Death Certificate must be presented upon Probate." Ask the office for the short certificate fee for estates.

Small estates and payments to family

The county's combined form tracks two sections of Title 20. Under 20 Pa.C.S. 3101, as amended by Act 50 of 2025 (November 24, 2025), an employer may pay wages or benefits "in an amount not exceeding $10,000" to the spouse, a child, a parent or a sibling, and a bank or credit union may pay a deposit "when the total standing to the credit of the decedent in that institution does not exceed $20,000" to the same family members on a receipted funeral bill or a funeral director's affidavit, "whether or not a personal representative has been appointed". Under 20 Pa.C.S. 3102, where the decedent's other property, "exclusive of real estate and of property payable under section 3101", has "a gross value not exceeding $50,000", the orphans' court division of the county of domicile may on petition direct distribution of the property to the parties entitled to it, and the section says this is so whether or not letters have been issued or a will probated. Section 3102 was last amended by Act 35 of 2013; the General Assembly's 2026 act list, opened the same day, shows no act amending Title 20. The Pennsylvania small estates guide covers the petition.

Recording a deed with the Recorder of Deeds

The office says its "primary responsibility is to protect the people's ownership in their homes and other real property", with "two primary functions": "to record and index documents relating to property in Lackawanna County and to act as a collection agent for the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, all municipalities and school districts in Lackawanna County". It is "a 'fee office' since it collects fees set by the Pennsylvania State Legislature for the recording of documents". Its page reports that the court fees collected on recordings rose from $40.25 to $41.25 after Act 45 of 2025 raised one surcharge from $2.50 to $3.50, implemented November 17, 2025, and that "Effective Jan. 1, 2026, any attachment on e-recordings (i.e. Corrective Deeds, Deeds of Trust, etc.) will be subject to an additional recording fee of $0.50 per page", a charge that does not apply to documents brought in, dropped off or mailed.

The Recording Requirements (8/23/2024) apply the national document standards from September 1, 2024: 8.5 by 11 inch paper preferred (8.5 by 14 accepted), original signatures in dark ink, type no smaller than 12 point, 1 inch margins on every page, no handwriting other than signatures, and all documents directly relating to real estate must "contain a county tax parcel number", which the Assessment office certifies before recording. The deed must be dated, the acknowledgment may not predate it, the written and numerical consideration must match, and "Realty Transfer Tax or a Statement of Value must accompany all transfers unless an exemption is clearly state in the deed. (i.e. family transfer)", with the reason for any exemption stated. Deeds are corrected only by a corrective deed, which needs a Statement of Value, an explanation and a copy of the old deed.

Payment: "We do not require separate checks Realty Transfer Taxes and Recording Fees. One check for the transaction is sufficient." "We do not accept credit cards." "All recording fees must be for the exact amount. We do not issue refunds. Any overages of $5.00 or less will be forfeited. If your overages are over $5.00 your document will be returned." Checks are payable to the Lackawanna County Recorder of Deeds and must carry the submitter's printed address; the returned check fee is $20.00. The fee list adds: "We no longer accept cash for any transactions other than for copies of documents". A self-addressed stamped envelope is required for the return of the document and receipt.

On trusts specifically, the Recorder's Trust Exemptions notice says the Department of Revenue's Statement of Value form, mandatory from October 1, 2019 "when you are recording a deed and claiming an exemption", now requires "that a complete copy of a Trust" be "submitted when there is a transfer from a Trust", because "Some transfers from Trusts are taxable"; and the Department of Revenue "requires a complete copy of the Trust for a transfer to a Trust to verify an exemption, now the same applies for a transfer from a Trust". So a Scranton deed to a trustee that claims an exemption goes in with the Statement of Value and the whole trust instrument. Ask the county for the transfer tax rate; its pages do not print it.

What a living trust changes for a Scranton homeowner

The Register opens an estate on the original will and the petition, and charges by the value of what the decedent owned outright. A home deeded during life to the trustee of a revocable living trust is not in that estate; the successor trustee handles it under the trust document, and the orphans' court division's jurisdiction over inter vivos trusts under 20 Pa.C.S. 711(3) is available if a dispute needs a judge, not a step that must be taken. The cost is one deed at Suite 218 for the $99.75 base fee plus the $2.00 Statement of Value, filed with a complete copy of the trust. What remains outside the trust follows the Pennsylvania probate process guide.