West Chester, PA 19380-0989
Phone:610-344-6335
Fax: 610-344-6218

Estate Probates and Marriage Licenses will be taken
from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM ONLY.

Office hours for all other filings are from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM
Monday through Friday.


What's New 

ESTATE PROBATES
Estate Probates will now be taken MONDAY through FRIDAY between the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ONLY.  All parties must be in the office and registered by 4:00 p.m.

NOTICE OF INCREASED FEES FOR ADOPTION SERVICES
Effective April 1, 2013, Clerk of the Orphans' Court of Chester County, Pennsylvania will be updating the fee schedule to cover the increased expense of providing the services dealing with Adoption Investigations and Act 101 Searches.  Please click here for Administrative Regulation NO. 3-2013 to see the new fee amounts to be charged for these services.

ORPHANS' COURT MEDIATION PROGRAM 
The Chester County Orphans' Court is administering a Mediation Program that is intended to provide the participant prompt convenient access to dispute resolution proceedings that are fair, confidential, effective, and cost far less than a court proceeding.  In many cases, mediation may allow the parties to reach agreements that will suit them much better than a court decision, and may promote healing of strained family relationships.  Please click here for a brochure to learn more about this Program and to find out how to get started.
 
PHOTO I.D. REQUIREMENT
Effective August 2012, all Petitioners opening an estate need to provide Photo I.D. at the time they submit the Petition for Probate & Grant of Letters. 

NEW FUNCTIONALITY FOR FILL-IN FORMS
All fill-in forms on this website, created and provided by the Register of Wills/Clerk of the Orphans' Court and identified with the blue pencil have been updated with new functionality. With this new functionality these forms can be completed online, printed AND saved with the data entered on the user’s computer. Once saved the data on the form may be modified at any time before final submission, if necessary.

The Inheritance Tax Forms, created and provided by the PA Inheritance Tax Department, have also been modified with this new functionality. The link to these forms is on our website in the left navigation panel under Related Links.

Fill-in forms on this website, created and provided by the AOPC, have not been modified at this time. These forms are fill-in ONLY and can be printed but not saved. These forms are identified with a red pencil .

ELECTRONIC FILING SERVICES
PROVIDED BY THE REGISTER OF WILLS/CLERK OF THE ORPHANS’ COURT

The office of the Register of Wills/Clerk of the Orphans’ Court is accepting the filing of certain documents electronically by fax or email. An electronically filed document must be signed, dated and executed as though it were the original, in accordance with the applicable filing requirements. The document will be file-stamped with the date the electronic transmission is received and entered into the docket as though it were the original.

Electronic Transmission Options: