If you live in Allentown and are thinking about a will, a trust, or what happens to your house when you are gone, the questions are usually the same: what do I need, what will Pennsylvania take, and where does the paperwork go. In Allentown, the paperwork goes to the Lehigh County Courthouse on West Hamilton Street. Leeson & Co. is at 70 E. Broad Street in Bethlehem, roughly six miles from the courthouse by road.
Where an Allentown estate is opened
An estate is opened in the county where the person who died had their last family or principal residence (20 Pa.C.S. § 3151). It does not depend on where the executor lives or where the bank is. For someone who lived in Allentown, that means the Lehigh County Register of Wills, a division of the Clerk of Judicial Records, in Room 122 of the courthouse at 455 West Hamilton Street, Allentown, PA 18101. Its phone number is 610-782-3170.
The Register probates estates and acts as the Commonwealth’s agent in collecting inheritance tax. The county says plainly that its staff cannot help prepare or advise on the documents an estate needs. What to bring and what happens at the counter are covered in our guide to filing an estate at the Lehigh County Register of Wills.
If the person lived in Bethlehem, check which side of the county line the house is on before anyone drives anywhere. Our post on where a Bethlehem estate gets filed explains how.
The Orphans’ Court Division is a separate office
In Lehigh County the Register of Wills and the Orphans’ Court are two different offices in the same building. The Orphans’ Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas has its own Clerk, appointed by the court, and handles court matters such as guardianships and formally filed fiduciary accounts, which the division audits. The division requires electronic filing for all case types, through Lehigh County File & Serve. When an estate needs a judge, this is the court that hears it: the Court of Common Pleas exercises its jurisdiction over decedents’ estates through the Orphans’ Court Division (20 Pa.C.S. § 711).
What an Allentown house means for inheritance tax
Allentown is a city of about 126,000 people, and its housing looks different from Lehigh County as a whole. Census Bureau figures for 2020 to 2024 put the owner-occupied rate at 43.2% in Allentown, against 65.6% for the county. The median value of an owner-occupied home was $206,600 in the city and $300,400 countywide.
Rowhome or twin, Pennsylvania taxes the house at its fair market value on the date of death. The Department of Revenue accepts three ways of valuing it: the sale price, an appraisal, or the Lehigh County tax assessment multiplied by the common level ratio.
Illustration only: a house worth $206,600 left to children is taxed at 4.5%, which is $9,297 before any deductions. A house a spouse owned jointly with the person who died is exempt. Tax paid within three months of the death gets a 5% discount, and it becomes delinquent nine months after the death. The full picture is in our guide to the Pennsylvania inheritance tax.
Three house questions to get right
- Adding a child to the deed. A house owned jointly with a child is taxed on the share of the person who died: the value divided by the number of owners. If the joint ownership was created within one year of death, the full value is taxable, less a $3,000 exclusion.
- Signing the house over but staying in it rent-free. The Department of Revenue treats the right to keep living in a property you gave away as a retained interest, and continued occupancy without paying rent can bring the house back into the tax.
- Forgetting a house outside Pennsylvania. Real estate outside Pennsylvania, whether in another state, in Puerto Rico or abroad, is exempt from Pennsylvania inheritance tax unless it was under contract to be sold before the death. It still has to pass to someone, so it needs a plan of its own.
If you own rental property
With 43.2% of the city’s occupied homes lived in by their owners, more than half are rented. When a landlord dies, the executor must take possession of the real estate, collect the rents and spend what is reasonably needed to preserve it until it is sold or distributed (20 Pa.C.S. § 3311). The exception is a house that an heir, or a beneficiary named in the will, was living in at the death with the owner’s consent: the executor does not take possession of it, although the court can direct otherwise and the executor can still sell it. Our page on estate administration and executor representation covers what that work involves.
What we do for Allentown families
- Wills: who inherits, and who is in charge of making it happen.
- Trusts: revocable and irrevocable, where control, privacy or protecting a beneficiary matters.
- Powers of attorney and healthcare directives: the documents that matter while you are alive.
- Asset protection: keeping what you have built where you intend it to go.
- Estate administration and probate: when someone has died and the work falls to you.
You get a written fee proposal before any work begins. What shapes it is what you need: a business or rentals, property in more than one state, a beneficiary who needs protecting, or a blended family to plan around.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I open an estate for someone who lived in Allentown?
At the Lehigh County Register of Wills, Room 122, Lehigh County Courthouse, 455 West Hamilton Street. The estate goes to the county where the person last lived (20 Pa.C.S. § 3151).
My mother lived in Allentown but owned a rental in Easton. Which county handles the estate?
Lehigh County, because that is where she lived. The Easton property does not move the estate to Northampton County. It is still Pennsylvania real estate, so it is subject to Pennsylvania inheritance tax and is reported on the estate’s return.
Is the Register of Wills the same as the Orphans’ Court in Lehigh County?
No. The Register of Wills is a division of the Clerk of Judicial Records and handles probate and inheritance tax filings. The Orphans’ Court Division is part of the Court of Common Pleas, has its own Clerk, and requires electronic filing for all case types.
If I put my son’s name on the deed to my house, does that avoid inheritance tax?
Not entirely. His half of a jointly owned house is outside the tax, but your half is taxed at your death. If the joint ownership was created within a year of your death, the full value is taxable, less $3,000. There may be better ways to do it, and they depend on your family.
Does Pennsylvania tax a house I own in Puerto Rico or another state?
Pennsylvania inheritance tax does not apply to real estate outside Pennsylvania unless it was under contract to be sold before death. It still has to pass to someone, so it needs a plan of its own. Tell us about it at the first meeting.
How we work with Allentown families
The first conversation is straightforward. You tell us what you have, including the house, any rentals and anything outside Pennsylvania, and who you want it to go to. We tell you what that takes. If you go ahead, you get a written fee proposal before any work begins.
Joseph F. Leeson III trained and practiced as a CPA before he practiced law, with four years in tax accounting at an international public accounting firm and a large financial corporation. He holds a JD from Indiana University Maurer School of Law and an MBA in accounting from DeSales University, and was named to MSN’s Legal Powerlist: 2026’s Most Respected Lawyers. He was born and raised in Bethlehem, and practices at Leeson & Co., 70 E. Broad Street, Bethlehem, PA 18018.
This page explains general principles of Pennsylvania law and is not legal advice for your situation. Tax rates, court procedures and county figures change. Please speak to us before acting on anything here.