How Long Does Pennsylvania's Affidavit of Heirship for Real Property Take?

The short answer

Affidavit of Heirship for Real Property in Pennsylvania has its own processing timeline, driven by the county's own recording process rather than one fixed statutory number. See what to expect after it's recorded for what can still slow things down.

What slows families down

• No Pennsylvania-licensed attorney has certified reliance on the affidavit. The affidavit can be recorded without this step, but it isn't 'admissible evidence of the facts therein stated' for title purposes until a member of the Pennsylvania bar has signed a certification, appended to the affidavit, stating they relied on it in passing on title. This is the affidavit's own statutory mechanism, not an optional add-on — a family expecting the recorded affidavit alone to resolve a sale or refinance will find it insufficient without this step.
• The affidavit is missing required statutory content. The statute requires the affiant's name, age, and residence; a description of the real estate involved; facts showing the affiant has personal knowledge of what's stated; and the name of the person who appears by record to be the property's owner at the time of recording. An affidavit missing any of this doesn't meet the statute's own requirements.

What happens after recording is why this isn't fully done yet

Getting it recorded is the easy part — what a title company or other relying party does with it afterward is where real delay shows up. Free one-pager: the real scenarios and what resolves each, emailed now. Then a few short follow-ups over the next few weeks — then we stop.

Email address Email me the checklist

Email only — we never ask for estate value, family details, or account numbers, and never sell your address.