Government

Row Officers

Register of Wills

Main - Fee Bill - Forms - Genealogy/Searches - Glossary - Inheritance Tax - Marriage Licenses - Orphans' Court - Public Service - Wills - Public Access

Glossary of Terms

Administrator: a person legally vested with the right of administration of an estate

Certificate: a document containing a certified statement especially as to the truth of something; specifically

Codicil: a legal instrument made to modify an earlier will

Decedent: a deceased person — used chiefly in law

Estate: the degree, quality, nature, and extent of one's interest in land or other property; possessions, property; especially: a person's real property; the assets and liabilities left by a person at death

Executor: the person appointed by a testator to execute a will

Inter vivos trust: living trust

Intestate: having made no valid will

License: a permission granted by competent authority to engage in a business or occupation or in an activity otherwise unlawful

Lineal descendants: someone who is directly related to a person who lived in the past; son, daughter, grandchild

Living trust: a trust that becomes effective during the lifetime of the settlor —called also inter vivos trust

Personal Representative: Person named in a will (Executor/ Executrix) or appointed by the Register (Administrator/Administratrix) to administer an estate.

Plenary: complete in every respect: absolute, unqualified

Probate: the action or process of proving before a competent judicial authority that a document offered for official recognition and registration as the last will and testament of a deceased person is genuine

Property: something owned or possessed; specifically: a piece of real estate; the exclusive rights to possess, enjoy, and dispose of a thing: ownership; something to which a person or business has a legal title; one (as a performer) who is under contract and whose work is especially valuable

Settlor: one that makes a settlement or creates a trust of property

Testate: having left a valid will

Testament: an act by which a person determines the disposition of his or her property after death

Testator/testatrix: a person who dies leaving a will or testament in force

Trust: a property interest held by one person for the benefit of another

Will: a written instrument legally executed by which a person makes disposition of his or her estate to take effect after death

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.  2012.  http://www.merriam-webster.com April 23, 2012.

Please Note:
All information on this webpage is to inform and not to advise. It is based upon Pennsylvania law. The statements are general, and individual facts in a given case may alter their application or involve other laws not referred to here. 

Register of Wills & Clerk of Orphans' Court
Linda Bobrin, Esquire, Register of Wills & Clerk of the Orphans' Court
Douglas Wayne, Esquire, 1st Deputy
Colleen F. Strunk, 2nd Deputy
Melissa V. Bond, Solicitor
Bucks County Courthouse
55 East Court Street 
6th Floor, Administration Building
Doylestown, PA 18901

Phone: 215-348-6265
Fax: 215-348-6156 
registerofwills@buckscounty.org
orphanscourt@buckscounty.org

www.facebook.com/BucksRegister

www.twitter.com/BucksRegister

Hours of Operation: The Register of Wills/Clerk of the Orphans' Court is open for virtual appointments and limited in person appointments within the Administration building. Please call to schedule an appointment. Walk-ins will not be accepted. The office will be open extended hours until 7:30 pm on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month (for virtual appointments). You may reach us at 215-348-6265.

• Before seeking an appointment, we ask the Bar and public to seriously consider whether the specific matter at issue would be considered exigent circumstances by an objective observer.
• Access to the Register of Wills/Clerk of Orphans’ Court office on the Sixth Floor of the Administration Building is now limited. A system is being implemented by which all emergency business before the Register/Clerk will be conducted in an alternative reception area on the Second Floor of the Administration Building.
• All visitors, including members of the bar with passes allowing access to the Administration Building, are asked to check in with the security officers.
• For more information, please view the Message to the Bar   from Linda Bobrin, Register of Wills & Clerk of the Orphans’ Court

Offsite Location for Probate & Marriage License Application: 
Lower Bucks Government Service Center 
7321 New Falls Road
Levittown, PA 19055
Phone: 267-580-3585
Hours: Effective Immediately, this office is closed.