Chester County Affidavit of Surviving Spouse Form (Pennsylvania)
All Chester County specific forms and documents listed below are included in your immediate download package:
Affidavit of Surviving Spouse Form
Fill in the blank form formatted to comply with all recording and content requirements.
Included Chester County compliant document last validated/updated 10/11/2024
Affidavit of Surviving Spouse Guide
Line by line guide explaining every blank on the form.
Included Chester County compliant document last validated/updated 9/11/2024
Completed Example of the Affidavit of Surviving Spouse Document
Example of a properly completed form for reference.
Included Chester County compliant document last validated/updated 8/28/2024
The following Pennsylvania and Chester County supplemental forms are included as a courtesy with your order:
When using these Affidavit of Surviving Spouse forms, the subject real estate must be physically located in Chester County. The executed documents should then be recorded in the following office:
Chester County Recorder of Deeds
313 W Market St, Suite 3302 / PO Box 2748, West Chester, Pennsylvania 19382 / 19380-0991
Hours: 8:30 to 4:30 M-F / Recording until 4:00
Phone: (610) 344-6330
Local jurisdictions located in Chester County include:
- Atglen
- Avondale
- Berwyn
- Birchrunville
- Brandamore
- Chatham
- Chester Springs
- Coatesville
- Cochranville
- Devault
- Devon
- Downingtown
- Elverson
- Exton
- Glenmoore
- Honey Brook
- Immaculata
- Kelton
- Kemblesville
- Kennett Square
- Kimberton
- Landenberg
- Lewisville
- Lincoln University
- Lionville
- Lyndell
- Malvern
- Mendenhall
- Modena
- New London
- Nottingham
- Oxford
- Paoli
- Parker Ford
- Parkesburg
- Phoenixville
- Pocopson
- Pomeroy
- Pottstown
- Sadsburyville
- Saint Peters
- Southeastern
- Spring City
- Suplee
- Thorndale
- Toughkenamon
- Unionville
- Uwchland
- Valley Forge
- Wagontown
- West Chester
- West Grove
- Westtown
How long does it take to get my forms?
Forms are available immediately after submitting payment.
How do I get my forms, are they emailed?
Immediately after you submit payment, the Chester County forms you order will be available for download directly from your account. You can then download the forms to your computer. If you do not already have an account, one will be created for you as part of the order process, and your login details will be provided to you. If you encounter any issues accessing your forms, please reach out to our support team for assistance. Forms are NOT emailed to you.
What does "validated/updated" mean?
This indicates the most recent date when at least one of the following occurred:
- Updated: The document was updated or changed to remain compliant.
- Validated: The document was examined by an attorney or staff, or it was successfully recorded in Chester County using our eRecording service.
Are these forms guaranteed to be recordable in Chester County?
Yes. Our form blanks are guaranteed to meet or exceed all formatting requirements set forth by Chester County including margin requirements, content requirements, font and font size requirements.
Can the Affidavit of Surviving Spouse forms be re-used?
Yes. You can re-use the forms for your personal use. For example, if you have more than one property in Chester County that you need to transfer you would only need to order our forms once for all of your properties in Chester County.
What are supplemental forms?
Often when a deed is recorded, additional documents are required by Pennsylvania or Chester County. These could be tax related, informational, or even as simple as a coversheet. Supplemental forms are provided for free with your order where available.
What type of files are the forms?
All of our Chester County Affidavit of Surviving Spouse forms are PDFs. You will need to have or get Adobe Reader to use our forms. Adobe Reader is free software that most computers already have installed.
Do I need any special software to use these forms?
You will need to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer to use our forms. Adobe Reader is free software that most computers already have installed.
Do I have to enter all of my property information online?
No. The blank forms are downloaded to your computer and you fill them out there, at your convenience.
Can I save the completed form, email it to someone?
Yes, you can save your deed form at any point with your information in it. The forms can also be emailed, blank or complete, as attachments.
Are there any recurring fees involved?
No. Nothing to cancel, no memberships, no recurring fees.
Using an Affidavit of Surviving Spouse or Life Partner in Pennsylvania
The manner of vesting, or the way owners hold title to real property, determines what will happen to that property in the event of their death.
The three options available to co-owners vesting residential real property in Pennsylvania are tenancy in common, joint tenancy, and tenancy by the entirety. A tenancy in common and a joint tenancy are available to two or more owners, whereas a tenancy by the entirety is available only to married couples.
When co-owners vest as tenants in common, each one owns a separate share of the title. A joint tenancy with the right of survivorship means that, upon the death of one joint tenant, the deceased's interest in the property is proportionately distributed to the remaining joint tenants, thus avoiding probate. In tenancy by entirety, both spouses share 100% undivided ownership of the property. Similar to joint tenancy, when the first spouse dies, his or her interest in the property ceases, meaning the surviving spouse becomes the sole owner.
Pennsylvania property held in either a joint tenancy or a tenancy by the entirety vests automatically in the survivor(s) upon the death of an owner. This means that a deed is not required to transfer the decedent's interest. Rather, an affidavit of surviving spouse or life partner may be recorded in the office of the recorder in the appropriate county evidencing the surviving spouse's right to the decedent's interest. Such a document helps to maintain a clear chain of title (ownership history) and may be useful in future title searches.
Affidavits must meet standards for recording in the state of Pennsylvania as well as the requirements for affidavits pertaining to interest in real property as established by 21 P.S. 453, and requires the name, address, and age of the affiant, as well as a legal description of the real property concerned. Further, it states that the affiant was either the legal spouse or life partner of the decedent, and indicates that the supporting documentation -- the death certificate of the decedent and either a marriage license or a certificate of life partnership -- are authorized copies. The affiant makes the sworn statements contained within the affidavit in the presence of a notary public, declaring that they are true, correct, and complete to the best of his or her knowledge.
Each case is unique, so consult a lawyer with questions.
(Pennsylvania AOSS Package includes form, guidelines, and completed example)
Our Promise
The documents you receive here will meet, or exceed, the Chester County recording requirements for formatting. If there's an issue caused by our formatting, we'll make it right and refund your payment.
Save Time and Money
Get your Chester County Affidavit of Surviving Spouse form done right the first time with Deeds.com Uniform Conveyancing Blanks. At Deeds.com, we understand that your time and money are valuable resources, and we don't want you to face a penalty fee or rejection imposed by a county recorder for submitting nonstandard documents. We constantly review and update our forms to meet rapidly changing state and county recording requirements for roughly 3,500 counties and local jurisdictions.
4.8 out of 5 - ( 4434 Reviews )
James S.
November 21st, 2024
Forms used, created quitclaim deed that the county accepted without a second look (turns out they see deeds.com forms regularly via erecording and in person). Will be back for any real estate related forms I need and they carry. Will always be my first stop. Also, will use erecording next time, mad I didn't see it this time.
Thanks for the kind words James, glad we could help. Look forward to seeing you again.
Thomas G.
November 21st, 2024
Wasn’t what I expected
Sorry to hear that your expectations were missed. Your order has been canceled. We do hope that you find something more suitable to your expectations elsewhere. Do keep in mind that purchasing legal forms should not be an exploratory endeavor.
Jimmy P.
November 20th, 2024
They sent me everything I would need to do this. Easy purchase -Easy download. Great!! I'll be back here for all my document needs.
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David M.
September 29th, 2022
Holy cow. I was told by several people that getting a deed recorded would take 7-10 days. So I thought I'd give deeds.com a try with their e-filing service. I created my account and submitted my deed around 4:00 p.m. and it was recorded before I woke up the next morning. Awesome service! Totally worth the $19 service fee.
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Don R.
January 26th, 2022
From Pennsylvania here. Documents are great and easy to fill out however you are lacking a couple of things. You only provide the option for a Grant Deed when you purchase by your county which is Mercer County for me. Why not give the ability to get a Warranty Deed that better protects the Grantee?
Also, being from Pennsylvania and in a county that mined Buituminous Coal we are required to include the Coal Severance Notice and Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act Notice. You can check the box on your Deed form that they are required and attached but you do not provide the verbiage or form for this. You state that you know what each county requires and include everything required but you do not include these two required Notices. This has been a requirement for years and the wording never changes. I had to look for these Notices and hand type this information and include it on another seperate page after the Notary section on the Deed. The Grantor has to sign the Coal Severance Notice and be witnessed by a Notary so I had to add another place for the Notary and will have to pay twice for witnessed signatures when it could have been included in your document. My Deed from 2003 was done that way and then the Notary statement after that so it was only one notarized witness of signature.
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JESUS G.
June 13th, 2020
Easy And fast to use just scan upload and pay the fee and they take care of the rest.
Thank you!
Jeffrey T.
December 1st, 2022
First Time User here. Simple and easy. Delivered Deed in excellent time. Sure beats going to the recorder's office.
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Natasha M.
January 9th, 2024
Your forms, guides, sample deeds and submission process were accessible, easy to understand and simple. I also was pleasantly surprised by the efficiency, professionalism and ease of staff communicating with me after I uploaded the document to ensure the county accepted it. I will continue to use this website to record deeds. Thank you!
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Edward B.
September 22nd, 2023
I was looking for a certain form I needed. Deeds.com had the necessary form and I was able to purchase it with little effort on my part. This was a good customer experience.
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DIANE S.
June 6th, 2020
I received my report pretty quick!
Had info that I needed.
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Fedila A.
July 16th, 2021
Thank you! I got the forms and saved them.
Fast download and the price is given before ordering which is great. The only thing missing is the sample of the Cover Page. Thanks a lot!
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Charles F.
November 19th, 2020
Quick and Easy
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Joseph K.
May 1st, 2020
I'm very impressed. We're a small nonprofit, and we usually walk our documents into our county offices for recording. So I was a little bit skeptical about how things would work if we did it electronically. But it was a smooth, quick, painless, and reasonably priced process. I expect that this will be our preferred method even after county offices re-open.
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Charles S.
July 2nd, 2021
Easy to set up and fast service.
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Tracey T.
January 20th, 2022
I downloaded the Lady Bird deed. The process was quick and easy to download. Just select your county, fill out the form. You will need the property description from your original deed. In my case I had to go downtown Wayne County (Detroit). (Make an appt online). 1st you will have to get the property tax certified to ensure all taxes are paid to date (5th floor at the Wayne County Treasurer office). Give them the form you just filled out and they will stamp certified $5. After that take the form to the Register of Deeds (7th floor) appt needed. $18. Make sure it is properly notarized and all signatures completed. Once approved, they will scan it, stamp it, give it back with a receipt and mail a copy also. All Done. Worked beautifully. My co worker go a lawyer and paid over $250. I just used deeds.com and total for forms and going downtown with notarizing was less than $40 Yea!
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