How Hershey Families Use Revocable Living Trusts to Avoid PA Probate

Hershey's economy runs on a small number of large, concentrated employers — The Hershey Company's headquarters and manufacturing operations, Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, and Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center — and that concentration shows up directly in local estates. Corporate stock and deferred compensation for some households, hospital and university pensions for others, and home values near Hersheypark and along the Route 39 corridor that run well above the Dauphin County average. It is a combination that makes probate avoidance worth real money to Hershey families in a way it isn't everywhere.

Here is how a revocable living trust actually works under Pennsylvania law, why Hershey's particular mix of assets makes it worth considering earlier than it might elsewhere, and what a trust does and does not change about your tax bill.

Why probate matters more for Hershey estates

Dauphin County probate runs through the Register of Wills on Market Street in Harrisburg, and for an uncontested estate it typically takes 12 to 18 months — inventory, a nine-month inheritance tax deadline, a one-year creditor claim window, then final distribution. None of that is unusual by Pennsylvania standards. What is unusual for Hershey specifically is what sits inside a typical estate while that clock runs.

Restricted stock units, nonqualified deferred compensation, and employer stock plans do not always transfer cleanly through a probate estate. Some plans require a certified copy of letters testamentary before they will process a transfer to an estate, which means the value can sit frozen — sometimes through a period of real market volatility — while the Register of Wills processes a routine filing. A pension survivor election tied to decades of Hershey Medical Center or university employment needs to be checked against the actual beneficiary paperwork on file, not assumed from the will. None of this is fatal, but all of it takes longer and costs more inside a probate administration than it does inside a properly funded trust. Our companion piece on Harrisburg probate and Dauphin County filing fees covers the county-wide mechanics in full.

What a revocable living trust actually does

Pennsylvania recognizes revocable living trusts under its version of the Uniform Trust Act, codified at 20 Pa.C.S. Chapter 77. The structure is simple: you create a trust, act as your own trustee, and retitle your major assets into the trust's name. You keep complete control and can amend or revoke the trust at any time — for tax and practical purposes during your life, it is still simply "your" property. The payoff comes at incapacity or death, when a successor trustee you named steps in immediately, with no Register of Wills filing, no probate inventory, and no public record of what you owned or who inherited it.

That last point is not a small one for households connected to a company as recognizable locally as The Hershey Company. A probated will and estate inventory are public documents that anyone — a reporter, a curious neighbor, a distant relative — can request from the Register of Wills. A trust is not filed with any court and stays private.

The Hershey-specific case for a trust

Equity compensation and deferred comp

If part of your compensation comes as restricted stock units, stock options, or nonqualified deferred compensation, the standard will language "I give all my property to my spouse" often does not address vesting schedules, plan-specific beneficiary elections, or the blackout periods that can apply around a death. A trust lets a successor trustee step into your role with the plan administrator far faster than an executor waiting on letters testamentary, and it keeps those account statements out of a public probate inventory.

Higher-than-average home values

Home values in the neighborhoods around Hersheypark and along the Route 39 corridor run meaningfully above the Dauphin County average, which means the Pennsylvania inheritance tax exposure on the residence alone is a bigger line item for Hershey families than for many of their neighbors. A $600,000 home passing to children is taxed at 4.5% under 72 P.S. § 9116 — real money, and it applies whether the house passes through a will or a trust. What a trust changes is not the 4.5%, but how quickly and privately the house can be sold or distributed without a Register of Wills filing holding up the closing.

Hospital and university pension coordination

Penn State Health and university retirement benefits typically involve survivor elections made years or decades before death and then forgotten. A trust does not fix a bad beneficiary election, but consolidating your planning conversation — will, trust, and every beneficiary form — into one review is the only reliable way to catch an election that no longer matches your actual family.

Living trust vs. will, side by side

Most complete Hershey plans use both: the trust holds the major assets, and a short pour-over will catches anything accidentally left outside it and directs those items into the trust at death. See our will versus living trust in Pennsylvania comparison for the fuller decision framework.

Funding — the step DIY trusts almost always skip

A trust document that never receives your assets does nothing. Funding means actually retitling ownership:

• Real estate — a new deed, prepared and recorded, transferring title from you individually to you as trustee
• Bank and brokerage accounts — retitled at the institution, not merely referenced in the trust document
• Employer stock plans and deferred compensation — these vary by plan; some allow direct retitling, others require a beneficiary designation naming the trust rather than a change of ownership. Read the plan document or ask the administrator directly, because the two mechanisms are not interchangeable
• Life insurance and retirement accounts — typically kept with individual beneficiaries rather than the trust, for tax reasons, unless a specific planning goal calls for naming the trust

We fund every trust we build as part of the engagement, because an unfunded trust is the most common reason a "probate avoidance" plan ends up in probate anyway.

Does a trust reduce Pennsylvania inheritance tax?

No — and this is the most common misunderstanding we hear from Hershey clients. A revocable living trust changes who supervises the transfer of your assets. It does not change whether the transfer is taxed. Assets held in a fully funded revocable trust are reported and taxed at the same 72 P.S. § 9116 rates as assets passing under a will: 0% to a spouse, 4.5% to children and other lineal descendants, 12% to siblings, 15% to everyone else. If reducing the tax itself — rather than avoiding probate — is the goal, that is a different conversation involving lifetime gifting, life insurance structuring, or an irrevocable trust; see our Pennsylvania inheritance tax guide and our comparison of revocable versus irrevocable trusts.

What a living trust does not replace

A trust is one piece of a plan, not the whole plan. Hershey clients still need:

• A pour-over will to catch anything outside the trust and to name a guardian for minor children
• A durable financial power of attorney, with hot powers under 20 Pa.C.S. § 5601.4 expressly granted, so an agent can act — including funding or amending the trust itself — if you become incapacitated
• A healthcare power of attorney and living will under 20 Pa.C.S. Chapter 54
• Current beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance, coordinated with the trust rather than contradicting it

Choosing a successor trustee

The trust is only as good as the person who steps in when you can't act. For Hershey households with equity compensation or a pension survivor election on file, the successor trustee needs to be someone who can call a plan administrator, produce a certification of trust, and follow through on a multi-step process without a court order pushing them along — a different skill set than simply being trustworthy with a checkbook.

A spouse is usually the right first choice for a married couple, but name at least one successor beyond that. Adult children, a sibling, or a corporate trustee at a bank or trust company are all reasonable choices depending on the complexity of what you own and how comfortable your family is managing it directly. If your estate includes closely held business interests or a meaningful equity compensation package, a co-trustee arrangement — a family member paired with a professional trustee or your accountant — can combine local knowledge with the technical follow-through those assets require.

Whoever you name, tell them before an emergency. A successor trustee who first learns of the role while trying to locate the trust document and figure out which accounts it actually holds is starting from behind at exactly the wrong moment.

Cost and process for Hershey families

A complete trust-based plan — trust, pour-over will, durable power of attorney, healthcare directive, and full funding — typically runs several thousand dollars for an individual and somewhat more for a couple, depending on the number and complexity of assets involved, particularly employer stock plans and out-of-state property. A will-only plan costs less upfront but leaves probate and incapacity guardianship on the table. Either path still owes Pennsylvania inheritance tax on the same schedule, so the cost comparison is really about speed, privacy, and incapacity protection — not tax savings.

Common questions

Q: Does a revocable living trust avoid Pennsylvania inheritance tax? No. It avoids probate, not tax. Trust assets are still reported and taxed under 72 P.S. § 9116 at the same rates that apply to assets passing by will — 0% to a spouse, 4.5% to children, 12% to siblings, 15% to others.

Q: Can I put my Hershey Company stock or restricted stock units into my trust? Often, but it depends on the plan. Some employer stock and deferred compensation plans allow direct retitling into a trust; others require a separate trust-as-beneficiary designation. Check the plan document or ask the administrator before assuming either approach applies.

Q: How long does Dauphin County probate take if I don't use a trust? Twelve to eighteen months is typical for an uncontested estate, driven by the nine-month inheritance tax deadline and the one-year creditor claim window. A funded trust bypasses the Register of Wills filing entirely for the assets it holds.

Q: Do I still need a will if I have a living trust? Yes — a short pour-over will catches any asset left outside the trust and names a guardian for minor children. Without it, anything not properly funded into the trust falls under Pennsylvania's intestacy statute.

Q: Is a living trust worth it for a smaller Hershey estate? It depends more on what you own than how much it's worth. A modest estate with a Pennsylvania home, ordinary bank accounts, and no out-of-state property may do fine with a well-drafted will. Equity compensation, deferred comp, a business interest, or a second property tip the balance toward a trust regardless of total value.

Where to go next

Read our revocable living trusts service page and the statewide Pennsylvania revocable living trust guide, then compare the alternative in our will versus living trust breakdown. If probate timing in Dauphin County specifically is what's driving the question, our Harrisburg probate guide walks through the fees and timeline you'd otherwise be avoiding.

Talk with a Pennsylvania estate planning attorney about Hershey

We help Hershey and Dauphin County families build estate plans that work under Pennsylvania law and file correctly with the Dauphin County Register of Wills. Flat fees, quoted in writing, two-meeting process.

• Schedule a free Hershey consultation
• Hershey estate planning page
• Revocable living trusts overview
• Call (717) 724-7503