Pennsylvania imposes an inheritance tax on all estate transfers except those passed on to a surviving spouse, IRAs are exempt. The tax is 4.5% to children and higher for other beneficiaries.
See http://www.revenue.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/inheritance_tax/11414 for more information.
what about stepchildren?
Candace: Thanks for the comment. You mean are step-children in the class of “lineal heirs” or “other heirs” for calculation of PA inheritance tax? I presume the former but this is not my area of expertise. An additional citation would be useful since the source publication I used was meant for general information.
After a little Googling, I see that most states do not include step-children as lineal descendants but one Philadelphia lawyer writes that they are treated in that class for calculation of inheritance taxes. http://philapalaw.com/inheritance-tax-in-pennsylvania/
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