Easton is the Northampton County seat, and the courthouse on Washington Street is where estates across this side of the Lehigh Valley are opened — including most of Bethlehem.
Leeson & Co. is a Northampton County firm. Our office is on East Broad Street in Bethlehem, a short drive from the courthouse, and this is the Register of Wills we deal with most often.
What we do for Easton families
- Wills — who inherits, and who is responsible for carrying it out.
- Trusts — where control, privacy or protecting a beneficiary matters.
- Powers of attorney and healthcare directives — the documents that matter while you are still here.
- Asset protection.
- Estate administration and probate — when someone has died and the work falls to you.
Where Easton estates are filed
Northampton County estates are opened at the Register of Wills in the Northampton County Courthouse, 669 Washington Street, Easton. Our step-by-step guide is here: filing an estate at the Northampton County Register of Wills.
The Pennsylvania inheritance tax
Pennsylvania taxes inheritance from the first dollar, at a rate set by the relationship between the person who died and the person receiving. A spouse pays nothing. Children and grandchildren pay 4.5%. Siblings pay 12%. Everyone else pays 15%.
The full picture, including the deadline most families miss, is in our guide to the Pennsylvania inheritance tax.
What this costs
We would rather tell you how our fees work than leave you guessing, because the not-knowing is what stops most people picking up the phone.
Straightforward estate planning starts with a written fee proposal before any work begins, so you know what you are committing to in advance rather than watching a clock. What sits inside that fee depends on what you actually need — a will alone is a different piece of work from a will with trusts, powers of attorney and healthcare directives.
What tends to move the figure: whether there is a business or a farm, whether property sits in more than one state, whether a beneficiary has a disability or needs protecting from themselves, and whether there is a blended family to plan around.
Estate administration is different again, because the work depends on what the estate holds. We will tell you at the first conversation which basis applies to you.
Local, and it matters here
Estate work is county work. The office you file in, the fees it charges, how it prefers documents presented — these are small things that cost time when you get them wrong. This is our home county.
Speak to an Easton estate planning attorney
The first conversation is a straightforward one. You tell us what you have and who you want it to go to, and we tell you what that actually takes in Pennsylvania.
Joseph F. Leeson III trained and practiced as a CPA before he practiced law — 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.
This page explains general principles of Pennsylvania law and is not legal advice for your situation. Please speak to us before acting on anything here.