Probate Attorney Advertising Rules in Pennsylvania (2024 Amendments)

Estate attorneys in Pennsylvania need to read this page carefully, because Pennsylvania amended Rule 7.3 effective November 14, 2024, in ways that change the operational design of probate prospecting in the state. The prior ADVERTISING MATERIAL envelope-label requirement is gone. The 2-year retention requirement is gone. Text messages are now prohibited as solicitation. These changes are recent enough that vendor templates designed before late 2024 are likely out of date.

This is a reference page, not legal advice. Pennsylvania's rules are subject to further amendment, and attorneys are responsible for their own compliance.

Quick reference summary

• Applicable rule: 204 Pa. Code Rule 7.3, amended effective November 14, 2024
• Waiting period after death: None fixed. Rule 7.3(d)(1) "physical, emotional or mental state" judgment standard governs.
• Required disclosure: As of November 14, 2024, no ADVERTISING MATERIAL envelope label required. New Rule 7.2(k) requires lawyer/firm name and contact info responsible for content only.
• Filing required: No
• Retention: No retention requirement under Rule 7.2 or Rule 7.3 post-November 14, 2024. The prior 2-year retention provision in Rule 7.2(b) was repealed.
• Real-time electronic contact: Text messages now prohibited under Rule 7.3(b) Comment [2]
• Last reviewed: May 2026

The rule itself and the November 14, 2024 amendments

Pennsylvania's Disciplinary Board proposed comprehensive amendments to Rules 7.1 through 7.3 in 2023, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court adopted them effective November 14, 2024. The amendments accomplished three notable things for probate prospecting:

The ADVERTISING MATERIAL envelope label is no longer required. The prior rule required attorneys sending direct-mail solicitation to mark the envelope "ADVERTISING MATERIAL." That requirement is gone. New Rule 7.2(k) requires only that the lawyer or firm name and contact information responsible for the content appear on the communication. This is a streamlined requirement.

The 2-year retention requirement is eliminated. Pennsylvania previously required attorneys to retain copies of advertising and solicitation materials for two years under Rule 7.2(b) (not Rule 7.3, which the Batch 1 page text initially attributed). The Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board's news release confirms: "Subsection (b) of Rule 7.2, requiring that copy or recording of an advertisement be kept for two years, is repealed." The adoption order was published at 54 Pa.B. 6696 (Vol. 54, No. 43, October 26, 2024). Practical recordkeeping continues to be advisable, but the affirmative obligation is gone.

Text messages are now prohibited as solicitation. Comment [2] to Rule 7.3(b), as amended November 14, 2024, sweeps text messages into "live person-to-person contact," which is prohibited under Rule 7.3(b) for solicitation. This is a significant departure from the ABA Model Rule and from most other states (Illinois, by contrast, expressly excludes text messages from "live person-to-person contact").

The pre-amendment rule remains relevant for any solicitation conducted before November 14, 2024 (for retention compliance for those communications). Going forward, the post-amendment rule is what governs.

What triggers the rule for probate outreach

A written solicitation sent to a surviving spouse or family member of a recently deceased person, where the attorney has no prior relationship with the recipient, is subject to Pennsylvania Rule 7.3 and Rule 7.2.

Rule 7.3(d)(1)'s "physical, emotional or mental state" judgment standard is the most consequential element for probate prospecting. Recently bereaved family members may, depending on the timing and circumstances of the death, be in a state where reasonable judgment is impaired. Pennsylvania has no numeric post-death waiting period, so the analysis is fact-specific. The conservative practice is to allow some time after death (typically 14 to 30 days) before written solicitation.

Pennsylvania-specific requirements (post-November 14, 2024)

No ADVERTISING MATERIAL envelope label required. The prior label requirement is gone. Rule 7.2(k) requires lawyer or firm name and contact info on the communication.

No retention obligation under Rule 7.3 itself. Pennsylvania's 2-year retention is eliminated. Practical recordkeeping continues to be advisable for evidence in any future disciplinary inquiry, but it is not a Rule 7.3 obligation.

Text messages prohibited. Comment [2] to Rule 7.3(b), as amended November 14, 2024, sweeps text messages into prohibited "live person-to-person contact." See Marshall Dennehey's analysis of the PA texting ban for practitioner commentary.

Live person-to-person contact prohibited. In-person, live phone, and now text-message contact are prohibited for solicitation outside the narrow lawyer/family/prior-relationship/business-organization exceptions.

No filing requirement. Pennsylvania has no rule requirement to file solicitation materials with the Disciplinary Board.

Prohibited content. Rule 7.1 prohibits false or misleading communications. Rule 7.3(b) bars contact after a recipient declines and bars coercion, duress, fraud, overreaching, harassment, intimidation, or undue influence.

Common compliance failures in probate outreach

The most common Pennsylvania-specific failure post-November 14, 2024 is text-message solicitation. Vendor templates designed before late 2024, or vendors who treat PA as an ABA Model Rule state, may include SMS as part of the outreach mix. Under the amended rule, this is prohibited.

The second is failure to update from the prior ADVERTISING MATERIAL envelope-label format. While the new rule removes the affirmative requirement, vendor templates that include legacy labeling are simply outdated; they do not violate the rule but may signal that the vendor has not updated for PA's current requirements.

A review of Pennsylvania Bar Association and Philadelphia Bar Association opinions 2020-2026 confirms no opinion specifically addresses probate solicitation, AI-generated outreach, or estate-attorney advertising. Joint Formal Opinion 2024-200 addresses generative AI in legal practice (competence, confidentiality, candor, supervision, UPL) but does not address Rules 7.1-7.3 advertising and solicitation. Phila. Bar Op. 88-27 on targeted direct mail remains foundational for general written-communication compliance, predating the November 14, 2024 amendments.

How Probate Helper handles Pennsylvania compliance

Probate Helper's outreach templates for Pennsylvania reflect the November 14, 2024 amendments. Envelopes do not include the legacy ADVERTISING MATERIAL label (per the amended rule). The lawyer or firm name and contact info appear on every communication per Rule 7.2(k).

Text messages are excluded from the Pennsylvania outreach mix per the November 14, 2024 Comment [2] amendment. Live phone, live video, and in-person solicitation are excluded.

Recipient-list and dissemination recordkeeping is maintained at the platform level even though Rule 7.3 no longer requires 2-year retention, as a conservative practice.

The send schedule respects the Rule 7.3(d)(1) "physical, emotional or mental state" standard with timing-after-death guardrails.

What to ask any probate marketing vendor in Pennsylvania

• Has the vendor updated outreach templates to reflect the November 14, 2024 Pennsylvania amendments? Specifically, are envelopes correctly without legacy ADVERTISING MATERIAL labels, and is text-message solicitation excluded from the PA mix?
• Are live phone, live video, and now text-message methods all excluded from the PA outreach?
• Does the vendor maintain recordkeeping even though the affirmative 2-year requirement is gone?
• Do I review every piece before it ships under my firm's name?

Methodology and sources

ProbateHelper's research on Pennsylvania-specific compliance is documented in:

• PA Rule 7.2 post-November 2024 retention , corrects the rule cite (Rule 7.2(b), not Rule 7.3, was the repealed retention provision)
• PA recent opinions , negative finding for 2020-2026 probate or AI advertising opinions; identifies Joint Formal Op. 2024-200 (AI in legal practice, not advertising) as closest tangent

This page reflects ProbateHelper's reading; it does not claim to be the only possible reading.

Disclaimer

This page is not legal advice. Probate Helper is not a law firm. Pennsylvania's bar rules are subject to amendment, and the analysis above reflects the November 14, 2024 amendments as understood in May 2026. Attorneys are responsible for their own compliance and should verify current rules with the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rules database before relying on this content.

For the live rule text, see 204 Pa. Code Rule 7.3. For the Disciplinary Board's announcement of the adopted amendments, see PA Disciplinary Board: Supreme Court Adopts Amendments to Advertising and Solicitation Rules and the proposed-rule announcement. For practitioner commentary on the texting ban, see Marshall Dennehey.

See how Probate Helper's Pennsylvania-compliant outreach works for your firm. For state market dynamics, see the Pennsylvania probate leads page. For broader context, see the pillar guide to probate leads for attorneys.

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