Pennsylvania life estate deed

What a life estate deed does in Pennsylvania

A traditional life estate deed splits ownership across time. You, the life tenant, keep the right to live in and use the property for the rest of your life. The remaindermen you name own everything after that, and their interest vests the moment the deed is delivered; recording protects it against later buyers and creditors. Because their interest is real and present, you can't sell, refinance, or undo the deed without their signatures. That permanence is the whole difference between this and a lady bird deed.

A Pennsylvania life estate deed avoids probate for this property, but not Pennsylvania inheritance tax. Because you keep a life estate, the property remains subject to inheritance tax at your death (Tax Reform Code § 2107(c)(5)), at 0% for a spouse, generally 4.5% for children and grandchildren, 12% for siblings and 15% for others (§ 2116(a)).

The Pennsylvania law behind this deed

Pennsylvania has no section written specifically for life estate deeds. The instrument runs on the general conveyancing and recording statutes below, which is why the requirements here look like those for any other deed in the state.

When Pennsylvania homeowners use a life estate deed

• Pass a home to children while reserving the right to live there for life
• Start the Medicaid look-back clock on a transfer (state rules vary)
• Avoid probate on the property with a simple, long-established instrument
• Provide for a surviving spouse or partner with the remainder going to your own children

What Pennsylvania requires on the deed

These are the execution and formatting rules recorders of deeds enforce. Getting any of them wrong is the usual reason a deed comes back in the mail.

How to complete and record it in Pennsylvania

1. 1Find your current deedYou need the legal description from it, word for word. If you can't find your copy, the Recorder of Deeds can provide one, usually for a few dollars.
2. 2Identify everyone by full legal nameNames must match the current deed and government ID exactly, middle names included. A mismatch creates a gap in the chain of title that shows up years later at closing.
3. 3Complete the deedDeedly builds it with the wording, notary certificate, and 3-inch first-page margin used for Pennsylvania deeds.
4. 4Sign in front of a notaryBring photo ID. Wait to sign until you are in front of the notary: you have to appear before the notary anyway, and signing there leaves no question about who signed.
5. 5Complete Realty Transfer Tax Statement of Value (Form REV-183, filed in duplicate for a gift, an exempt transfer, or a deed that does not state the full price)Pennsylvania requires this alongside the deed, including for exempt transfers. Your filing packet explains which boxes apply to your situation.
6. 6Record it with the Recorder of DeedsFile in the county where the property is located and pay the recording fee. Many offices in this state also accept e-recording, but usually only from approved submitters such as title companies. Keep the stamped receipt. It fixes your priority date.
7. 7Tell the people you named where it isAt your death they record a certified death certificate, and in some states an affidavit, to show that your life estate has ended. Ask your insurer whether they should be added to the policy now.

What it costs in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania charges a realty transfer tax of 1% state, plus local (typically 1%, but Philadelphia's combined rate is 4.578% and Pittsburgh's is 5%). Cities and counties may add their own on top, so check the municipality rather than just the county.

Exemptions that commonly apply to a transfer like this: transfers between spouses, or between former spouses of property acquired before the final divorce decree, transfers between a parent or stepparent and a child or the child's spouse, transfers between siblings or a sibling's spouse, transfers between a grandparent and a grandchild or the grandchild's spouse, transfers for no or nominal consideration from a settlor into the settlor's own living trust, with a complete copy of the trust agreement filed, and transfers for no or nominal consideration from a living trust back to the settlor, or to a beneficiary after the settlor's death. You have to claim the exemption. The recorder won't apply it for you.

Where to record it in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania deeds are recorded with the Recorder of Deeds in the county where the property sits, not where you live. There are 67 counties in Pennsylvania.

Many Pennsylvania recording offices accept e-recording through vendors such as Simplifile, CSC, or ePN. E-recording is generally open only to approved submitters such as title companies, attorneys, and lenders, so if you prepared the deed yourself, plan to record in person or by mail. Some offices accept filings from the public through those vendors; your county's website will say.

Recording offices we cover in Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Allegheny, Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware, Lancaster, Chester, York, Berks, Westmoreland. See all Pennsylvania recording offices.

What a life estate deed does NOT do

Being honest about the limits is more useful than a sales pitch. Every one of these catches somebody out.

• It is not revocable. Once recorded, you can't sell or mortgage the property without every remainderman signing.
• A remainderman's divorce, bankruptcy, or judgment creditor can attach their interest in your home while you're still living in it.
• Because you keep the right to live there for life, the full value is still counted in your estate for federal tax purposes (26 U.S.C. § 2036). That generally gives the remaindermen a stepped-up basis at your death, but it also means the deed does not shrink a taxable estate.
• It is usually treated as a divestment for Medicaid purposes. Get advice before using it for that purpose.

Quirks of Pennsylvania law that catch people out

• Transfers between spouses, parents (or stepparents) and children, siblings, and grandparents and grandchildren, including the spouses of children, siblings and grandchildren, are excluded from realty transfer tax (72 P.S. § 8102-C.3(6)). Claim the exclusion on a Statement of Value (REV-183). You can skip the Statement of Value only when the deed itself states the family relationship, and Deedly's deed does not (61 Pa. Code § 91.112(d)).
• A gift to anyone outside the family exclusion is taxed on the property's computed value (the assessed value times the county's common level ratio factor), and so is a deed to your own LLC or corporation (61 Pa. Code § 91.154(a)). The Statement of Value must state the property's full value even when an exclusion is claimed (61 Pa. Code § 91.112(a)).
• Philadelphia's combined realty transfer tax is 4.578% (3.578% City plus 1% Commonwealth, since July 1, 2025) and Pittsburgh's is 5%, far above the 2% typical elsewhere in the state.
• Every deed needs a Certificate of Residence signed by or for the grantee, or the recorder must refuse it (16 P.S. § 9781). Deedly prints one after the notary block.
• Recorders expect the deed to name the municipality (township, borough or city) where the land lies, and the ward in Pittsburgh. Check that the legal description you copy from the prior deed includes it.
• Transfer tax is due when the deed is recorded, and no later than 30 days after the grantee accepts it (72 P.S. § 8102-C). In a sale, buyer and seller are both liable for all of it, and they may agree between themselves who pays (61 Pa. Code § 91.111(b)). Many recorders want separate checks for the state tax, the local tax and the recording fee, and refuse personal checks.
• Pennsylvania inheritance tax reaches property you deed away while keeping a life estate, and gifts made within one year of death above $3,000 per recipient in a calendar year (Tax Reform Code § 2107(c)). The rates are 0% for a spouse, generally 4.5% for children and grandchildren, 12% for siblings and 15% for others (§ 2116(a)).
• Some Pennsylvania municipalities require you to register the recorded deed with the township or borough, sometimes for a fee. Check with your municipality.
• Pennsylvania does not recognize transfer-on-death deeds.
• A conveyance to a married couple creates a tenancy by the entirety automatically, which is strong creditor protection.