Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court

Picture of Kimberly A. Barton

Kimberly A. Barton
Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court

Centre County Register of Wills
Willowbank County Office Building
414 Holmes Street
Suite #2
Bellefonte PA 16823
Directions: Map
Phone: (814)-355-6724
Fax: (814)-355-8685
E-mail: row@co.centre.pa.us
Hours: 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Monday - Friday

What's New

  • INCREASE IN STATE FEES EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 8, 2009

    On October 9, 2009 Governor Rendell signed into law House Bill 1607 which became Act 49 of 2009. This Act adds additional filing fees to the current Judicial Computer System/Access to Justice (JCS/ATJ) fees. The new fees include a 25 month temporary surcharge of $11.25 on the JCS/ATJ fee, for the period beginning 12/8/09 to 01/07/12. In addition to that, a new permanent fee of $2.25 has been added, which is earmarked for the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account (CJEA).

    This results in a combined increase of $13.50, which will be added to the current $10.00 fee, bringing the total to $23.50.

    The actions that are impacted by this state fee increase are ALL new filings of Petitions for Grant of Letters and FIRST filings of other Petitions in the Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court office.

    Among those include first filings on Petitions for Settlement of Small Estates,

    Petitions for Adoptions, Guardianship Petitions for Minors and Incapacitated Persons and Inter Vivos Trusts.

    Please note that NO PART of this $23.50 fee is allocated to or appropriated by the Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court. The ENTIRE amount collected is remitted to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on a monthly basis.

Register of Wills

The Register of Wills is responsible for probating wills and granting letter of administration in cases where persons die without leaving a will. The Register has jurisdiction over and maintains records of wills, inventory of estates, and other miscellaneous documents. The Register is the Commonwealth's agent for the collection of the state inheritance tax.

Clerk of Orphans' Court

The Clerk of Orphans' Court is responsible for performing the administrative recordkeeping duties of that Court. The Clerk of Orphans' Court issues marriage licenses and keeps required marriage records. The clerk of Orphans' Court will process and maintain all guardianship papers for minors and incapacitated persons. All papers pertaining to adoptions are filed in this office.

Birth and Death Records

Birth and death records from 1906 to the present are available from the Pennsylvania Department of Health Division of Vital Records. For more information, you can visit their Website: