Frequently Asked Questions

A: Not exactly. Summary level offenses are not charged by indictment or information as misdemeanors and felonies are. Most traffic offenses (i.e., speeding, stop sign violations) are summary level but there are several non-traffic summary offense in the PA Crimes Code such as Disorderly Conduct, Harassment and Public Intoxication, etc. These offenses carry a potential of 90 days in jail. If convicted or found guilty however, most people do not receive a jail sentence but receive a fine which can be up to $300.00 (excluding court costs). However, all summary level offenses stay on your record and cannot be expunged. Therefore you may have to explain your summary level Harassment conviction on a job interview some day.

A: Unfortunately for you, yes. Once your license is suspended by PennDOT for any reason, you must do everything required of you related to the reason your license was suspended, (DUI sentence, classes, payment of fines, etc.) AND complete a PennDOT Restoration form, and send it to PennDot with the required money (usually $25.00). Until you go through the restoration process, your license will forever be deemed "suspended" by PennDOT and consequently those who enforce the law. So, yes, your license is still considered "DUI suspended". If you plead not guilty and go to the hearing with an attorney, he or she, may be able to improve your situation.

A: No, not a good idea. PennDOT will suspend your driver's license if you are convicted or plead guilty to certain motor vehicle offenses. Generally, the driver does not learn about this suspension until weeks after the conviction when he receives a Notice of Suspension from PennDOT informing him to surrender his or her license. If you plead guilty by mail in this case, you will receive a 6 months driver's license suspension for the Accidents Involving Damage to Attended Vehicle or Property. Although there will be no suspension for the Careless Driving, you will receive 3 points. You should always consult with an attorney before pleading guilty, by mail or otherwise, to any motor vehicle offense.

A: If you did plead guilty or were found guilty of the Theft offense, and you did not receive a first time offender's program, such as ARD (Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition), then you have a criminal record for being convicted of Theft. This may present a problem for your employment prospects, especially if it was a misdemeanor or felony and not a summary level Retail Theft (although that is nothing to brag about). Generally, you cannot expunge any crime, if you were convicted of it (meaning you were found guilty or pled guilty). You can seek a Pardon from the Governor, in certain circumstances, where you have been crime free for 10 years. It is a process you initiate by filing a petition with the PA Board of Probation and Parole and this requires a longer explanation than I can fit into this column.

A: If you received ARD, there is no adjudication or verdict or conviction and therefore you would never have to say you were convicted of a crime. However, if asked if you were ever arrested, the truth is that you were. You were arrested but you were never convicted. Honesty is probably the best advice in this situation as you never know which criminal records repository the potential employer has access to.

A. You are stuck with the misdemeanors but you can expunge the summary offenses if you have been free of arrest for a period of five years after the summary conviction. Summary convictions, not misdemeanors or felonies are the lowest level of crimes (the same as a traffic offenses) and are usually punishable by a fine and costs but you can be sentenced to 90 days in jail as a result of being convicted. Under Title 18, Section 9122 of the PA Crimes Code, you can petition the court for an expungement if you have been free of arrest for a period of 5 years from the date you were convicted of the summary offense which you are requesting to be expunged. The confusion in what can and cannot be expunged arises from PA House Bill 1543 of 2007 which proposed summary convictions to be expunged as above, but also proposed the expungement of misdemeanor 3 and misdemeanor 2 offenses if an arrest-free period of 7 and 10 years had passed. This latter portion of the bill did not make the final cut in 2009 and only the subsection permitting expungements of summary offenses survived. To file for an expungement, the requirements recently became a bit more complicated so you may want to consult with an attorney to assist you in filing.

A: This is true if the deceased spouse and you have no surviving child or the deceased spouse has no surviving parent. When a person dies without a will, his or her probate estate passes in accordance with the laws of intestate (no will) succession. Under PA intestate law, if one spouse dies and is survived by a child (who is also the child of the surviving spouse)or a parent, any property of the deceased spouse that would pass through his or her estate will pass to his surviving spouse and a portion of it will also be shared by his surviving child, or if none, a surviving parent. If you are married and have a child or living parents, the only way to make certain that you and your wife inherit from each other is to have husband and wife joint wills prepared by an attorney.

A: Absolutely not, but you would be surprised as to how many people think so. If you have a valid will at the time of your death, your property and money will pass to whom you name as heirs in the will. This is of course after all estate taxes and expenses are paid. If you die without a will, your property and money will pass according to PA laws of intestate succession, which means Pennsylvania decides what portion of your property passes between your surviving spouse and surviving child or parent. The other degree of control of your estate that you lose by not having a will is that without a will there is no named Executor and therefore the court decides between your surviving heirs who should be in charge of your estate, which in some cases could lead to a family feud in probate court.

A: Yes and no. It is correct that an "in-trust-for" account will pass to the named surviving beneficiary without having to open an estate. All the beneficiary needs to do is produce a death certificate and proper identification at the bank to receive his or her money. However, the entire date of death balance of the account will be subject to PA inheritance tax at the rate applicable to your child, which would be 4.5%.

A: The attorney may be correct. Your parent's home was probably jointly held by them by the entireties as is usually the case. When your father died, your mother inherited it from him by the law of entireties but was subject to the spousal inheritance tax rate of zero, so no inheritance tax was owed. Assuming you and your sister are the only children, you and your sister inherited this house under your mother's will or under intestate law. At the time of her death the house was most likely be subject to inheritance tax which would have been due within 9 months of the date of her death. If that is the case, this tax and any interest that has accrued and penalties are now owed. You should consult with an attorney to confirm this and to prepare a PA inheritance tax return using all available expenses as deductions in order to lower your tax liability.

A: To answer your first question about expense, this is not an expensive process in your case. Assuming your mother is the only name on the deed or she is on the deed with your deceased father, this transaction should be exempt from PA real estate transfer tax as it is a "family transfer". If it were not exempt, such as the case with most real estate sales, or transfers to non-family members, the transfer tax is at least 2% of the sales price or market value of the realty. For a $100,000.00 home, this could be a $2,000.00 transfer tax. In your case, the only costs to you would be the attorney fee to draft the deed (usually $100.00 to $300.00) and the filing fee paid to the Department of Real Estate, which is around $80.00. Whether this transfer is advisable in your situation, is a much bigger question. There are advantages and disadvantages to both parties of the transfer, you and your sister, as well as your mother. You should consult with an attorney before changing names on a deed to make sure you are well aware of all the issues including real estate tax discounts, inheritance tax, capital gains and PA medical assistance eligibility and liens.

A. You must apply. The first discount, available to everyone who owns a home in which they reside, whether they are a senior citizen or not, is the Allegheny County Homestead Exclusion. If you qualify, the first $15,000.00 of your county market value is excluded for taxation purposes. Therefore, if your home has a market value (according to county assessment) of $50,000.00, only $35,000.00 will be subject to tax. You can call the county Property Assessment Department to have the form mailed to you at 412-350-4600, or download it from the county website which is www.alleghenycounty.us. You need to file by 3/1/12 for the tax year of 2012. The second discount is the Allegheny County Senior Citizen’s Tax Relief Program which gives a 30% property tax reduction to those senior citizens’ who are qualified.
You must
1) be 60 years of age. If married, one spouse must 60, if you are a widow or widower, you must be 50 years of age,
2) have owned one or more primary residences in Allegheny County for the past 10 years and
3) have income under $30,000.00 for the previous year.

To apply you must complete and mail a “Senior Citizen’s Tax Relief Program Application” to which you will likely need to attach certain documents such as all 1099s (1099R, 1099SA, etc), a photo copy of your driver’s license, photo ID or birth certificate and possibly your spouse’s death certificate if you are widowed. To request a form you can contact the county Treasurer at 412-350-4100 or you can download the form and instructions from the county website. Click on “departments”, then “Treasurer” then “Senior Citizen’s Tax Relief Program” in the left column. The deadline is 3/31/12. The third discount I am aware of comes from the state which is called the Pennsylvania Property Tax or Rent Rebate Program which provides a rebate (by check) for homeowners as well as renters which ranges between $250.00 and $650.00 depending on income. You must complete form PA-1000. You will need to attach various documents to your application such as proof of ownership (deed), copies of last year’s real estate tax bills that have been marked “paid” by the tax collector, copies of your previous year’s income tax returns and all 1099’s including 1099SA, 1099R, etc. You must mail all of the above to PA Department of Revenue in Harrisburg. The deadline is 6/30/11 which I understand has been extended to 12/31/11 for the year 2011. To obtain the forms and information packet you can call 1-888-222-9190 or go to the state website at www.revenue.state.pa. Once there, click on “Forms and Publications”, then “Fill in Forms” then “Property Tax/Rent Rebate” then “2010 PA-1000.pdf (form PA-1000).

Once you file, you can check the status of your application by calling 1-888-728-2937. Remember, none of these discounts apply if you remove your name from the deed to your home and for, example, put your children on the deed, by themselves. By doing so you are no longer the owner even though you may be paying all the maintenance and taxes on the property. But, as long as you stay on the deed alone or with your children jointly, you should be eligible for the discount.