Washington Cnty. C.P. Local Orphans Court Rules (Updated August 1, 2025) 12

"confidential" or otherwise secured, the filer shall indicate such required security

at the time of their filing submission through the prompts on the C-Track E-Filing

Portal.

(i) Counsel and unrepresented parties must adhere to the Public

Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Use

of electronic filing does not relieve any obligation regarding the

filing of confidential information and/or documents.

(ii) Electronic filings that contain “Confidential Information” as

defined by the Case Records Public Access Policy of the

Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts shall be filed

appropriately redacted, as required under the Public Access Policy.

The electronic filer shall separately electronically file a

Confidential Information Form and shall indicate that the form is a

confidential filing at the time of their filing submission through the

prompts on the C-Track E-Filing Portal.

(iii) Electronic filings that contain “Confidential Documents” as

defined by the Case Records Public Access Policy of the

Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts shall be marked

confidential at the time of their filing submission through the

prompts on the C-Track E-Filing Portal. The electronic filer shall

separately file a publicly accessible Confidential Document Form

indicating the confidential documents and the type of pleading.

Note: A docket entry, legal paper, or other information may only be sealed by the Court upon

issuance of an order. A filing party may not seal a filing sua sponte; rather, the filing party

should present a motion if requesting that a case or filing be sealed.

(e) Delay in Filing. The Court upon motion shall resolve any dispute arising under

Pa.R.O.C.P. Rule 4.7(e). If a party makes a good faith effort to electronically file a legal paper

but it is not received, accepted, or docketed by the system or clerk, the Court may order that the

paper be accepted and filed nunc pro tunc upon a showing that the filing party made reasonable

efforts to present and file the paper in a timely manner.

(f) Fees.

(1) The clerk shall accept payment of all electronic filings fees through credit or

debit card. The payment processor shall be approved by the Court through the

President Judge, or his or her designee.

(i) A reasonable convenience fee may be charged for the use of a

credit or debit card. The convenience fee shall be set by the Court

through the President Judge, or his or her designee.

(ii) The clerk may not accept alternate payment or a deposit of funds in

advance of filing; provided however, that a filing party who

utilizes a public terminal may pay all fees associated with the filing

by cash or money order in addition to those methods prescribed in

paragraph (1).

(2) The clerk shall collect a user fee for the filing of certain legal papers as

established by the Court through the President Judge. The user fee and list of

legal papers shall be delineated by Administrative Order.

(3) The Court may require the payment of a one time or reoccurring user fee to

access the public docket or legal papers through the C-Track E-Filing Portal. Such

fees shall be delineated by Administrative Order and shall be published on the C-Track E-Filing Portal or on the Courts website (www.washingtoncourts.us).

(4) Payment of fees in person at the office of the clerk may be made in cash,

check, money order, or by credit card/debit card. Payment of Inheritance Tax

may only be made in person and shall not be accepted through the C-Track E-Filing Portal.

(g) Service. The C-Track E-Filing Portal will automatically distribute a copy of any legal

paper filed in a case to each registered C-Track user who has entered his or her appearance in

that case and has been selected by the electronic filer to receive electronic service. Such

automatic distribution by the C-Track E-Filing Portal of electronically filed legal papers other

than original process constitutes service in accordance with the Pennsylvania Orphans’ Court

Rules. The electronic filer must serve the electronically filed legal papers upon any opposing

parties or attorneys who are not registered users of the C-Track E-Filing Portal in accordance

with the Pennsylvania Orphans’ Court Rules.

(1) Service through the C-Track E-Filing Portal upon transmission on a Saturday,

a Sunday, a holiday recognized by Court, or after 5:00 P.M. EST/EDT, shall be

considered complete on the next business day.

(2) Establishment as a registered user of the C-Track E-Filing Portal constitutes

consent to participate in electronic filing, including acceptance of service

electronically of any document, other than original process, filed on the C-Track

E-Filing Portal in any type of proceeding that permits electronic filing.

(3) Use of the C-Track E-Filing Portal does not relieve a party of service

requirements for a notice of appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 906(2)-(4).

(h) Termination Notices for Inactive Cases. In addition to the procedures set forth in

Pa.R.J.A. 1901 and Local Rule of Judicial Administration 1901, notice of proposed termination

for inactive cases may be accomplished electronically in cases where a party is a registered user

of the C-Track E-Filing Portal.

(i) Maintenance of Physical Files. Hard copy case files in existence at the time this Rule

is adopted must continue to be maintained by the clerk, as well as any physical case records

created after the effective date of this rule.

(a) The clerk may only purge a case file upon closure of the case if the legal papers in the

case record are scanned into the C-Track case management system in a PDF format. To

purge a case record, the clerk must file an attestation that the electronic documents

represent a full and complete copy of the papers in the case file, in addition to any

requirements that may be required by Pa.R.J.A. 507 or the County Records Committee

(16 P.S. § 13001, et seq.).

(b) Notwithstanding the previous subsection, the President Judge may require the clerk to

create or maintain physical case records as necessary for the administration of justice and

the business of the court.

L-RULE 5.10-1. TERMS AND CONDUCT OF A PUBLIC OR PRIVATE SALE

(a) All public or private sales shall be made for cash unless otherwise specifically

ordered by the Court and in no event shall a bid on the property be finally accepted unless at

least ten (10%) percent of the proposed purchase price, or a sum sufficient to defray all costs of a

resale in event purchaser fails to pay the balance, whichever is the greater amount, be

immediately paid to the fiduciary conducting the sale.

(b) The fiduciary shall reserve the right to reject any bid for inadequacy of price or

irresponsibility of bidder.

(c) Prior to calling for bids on any property being offered for public or private sales, the

terms of sale, as set forth in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of this Rule, shall be publicly announced,

and at the same time notice shall be given of the time and place at which confirmation by the

Court will be requested.

L-RULE 5.10-2. RETURN, CONFIRMATION OF SALE, AND SECURITY

(a) Returns of public or private sales of real property for the purpose of an approvalor

confirmation by the Court shall be in the form of a petition by the fiduciary which shall set forth:

(1) the manner in which notice was given;

(2) the price obtained;

(3) the name and address of the purchaser and that such purchaser was the

highest bidder;

(4) a complete copy of the written agreement of sale shall be attached;

(5) whether any exceptions to the confirmation have been filed; and

(6) a proposed final order of Court approving or confirming the sale.

(b) On the return day of the sale, the Court will entertain initial and subsequent bids for

such property in increments of Five Hundred ($500.00) Dollars, or five (5%) percent in excess of

the bid returned, whichever is greater. In event any subsequent bid is offered, the purchaser

named in the petition may retain his right to such property by matching the highest bid offered.

All bids shall be subject to the requirements of Local Rule 5.10-1(a)

(c) On the return day of the sale, the Court, in the decree approving or confirming the

public or private sales, will fix the amount of bond or additional security which the fiduciary

shall be required to enter, or will excuse the fiduciary from entering additional security.

L-RULE 5.16. SETTLEMENT OF SMALL ESTATES

(a) Petitions under Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries Code §3102 for distribution of small

estates shall set forth:

(1) The name and address of the petitioner and his relationship to the

decedent.

(2) The name, date of death, and domicile of decedent, whether he died testate

or intestate, the dates of the probate of the will and of the grant of letters if

any, and whether the personal representative has been required to give

bond, and in what amount.

(3) The names and relationships of all beneficiaries entitled to any part of the

estate under the will or intestate laws, a brief description of their

respective interest, whether any of them has received or retained any

property of the decedent by payment of wages under Probate, Estates and

Fiduciaries Code §3101, or otherwise, and whether any of them are

minors, incapacitated persons or deceased with the names of their f

iduciaries, if any.

(4) The person or persons, if any, entitled to the family exemption and, if a

claim therefore is made in this petition, any additional facts necessary to

establish the prima facie right thereto, as required by Rule 5.2.

(5) An inventory of the real and personal estate of the decedent, with values

ascribed to each item, either incorporated in the petition or attached as an

exhibit.

(6) A list showing the nature, amount and preference of all unpaid claims

against the estate and indicating which are admitted.

(7) If any unpaid beneficiary, heir, or claimant has not joined in the petition, a

statement that ten (10) days’ notice of intention to present the petition has

been given in accordance with these rules.

(8) A prayer for distribution of the personal property to those entitled, and in

appropriate cases for the discharge of the personal representative.

(b) There shall be attached to the petition the following exhibits:

(1) The original of the decedent's will if it has not been probated, or a copy of

the will if it has been probated.

(2) Joinders of parties in interest.

(3) An itemized list of disbursements made prior to the filing of the petition,

indicating the payor and whether the disbursements were in payment of

administration expenses, preferred or ordinary debts, distribution or the

family exemption; and

(4) Proof of payment of inheritance tax.

L-RULE 7.1. PRE-TRIAL CONFERENCE

(a) In any action, the Court, of its own motion or on motion of any party, may direct the

attorneys for the parties to appear for conference to consider:

(1) the simplification of the issues;

(2) the necessity or desirability of amendments to the pleadings;

(3) the possibility of obtaining admissions of fact and of documents which

will avoid unnecessary proof;

(4) the limitation of the number of expert witnesses; and

(5) such other matters as may aid in the disposition of the action.

(b) The Court may make an order reciting the action taken at the conference, the

amendments allowed to the pleadings, and the agreements made by the parties as to any of the

matters considered, and limiting the issues for trial to those not disposed of by admissions or

agreements of the attorneys. Such order when entered shall control the subsequent course of the

action unless modified at trial to prevent manifest injustice.

L-RULE 9.1. NOTICE BY AUDITORS OR MASTERS

Auditors or Masters shall give notice of hearings held by them to all parties interested, or to their

attorneys of record, in the manner provided in Rule 2.5. Notice of succeeding hearing given by

the auditor or master at a hearing of which proper notice has been given shall constitute

sufficient notice of each of such succeeding hearings.

L-RULE 9.6. NOTICE AND OBJECTIONS

Auditors or Masters shall, on or before the day of filing their reports, give notice of the filing of

the same either personally or by mail to all interested parties of record or to their counsel of

record. Proof of notice shall be attached to the report.

Any party in interest shall have the right to file objections to an auditor's or master's report within

ten (10) days of the filing thereof. If objections are filed the matter shall be argued before the

Court.

L-RULE 9.7. DECREE

If no objections are filed within ten (10) days of filing thereof, the Court may enter a decree

confirming the auditor's report or adopting the master's report.

L-RULE 10.3. FEES FOR HEARINGS

The Register shall require a non-refundable fee for hearings in accordance with the

Register of Wills and Orphans’ Court fee bill, which is of record in the office of the

Register of Wills.

L-RULE 10.4. FORM OF APPEAL FROM THE REGISTER OF WILLS

Appeals taken from the judicial acts or proceedings of the Register shall be addressed to the

Court, and filed in duplicate with the Register. The appeal shall be in the form of a petition,

setting forth the nature of the proceedings before the Register, specifying the material points

upon which it is based, and containing a concise statement of the relevant facts, and shall set

forth the names of all interested parties and the necessary jurisdictional facts.

L-RULE 10.4. ISSUANCE OF CITATION

When an appeal has been perfected with the Register and the record has been transmitted to the

Clerk of this Court, a citation shall issue as of course, directed to all persons named in the appeal

as interested parties, to show cause why the appeal should not be sustained. The citation, with a

copy of the appeal, shall be served as provided by the Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries Code. The

citation shall be made returnable to a day and time certain.