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   Inheritance Tax 
   
   Inheritance tax is imposed as a percentage of the value of a decedent's estate transferred to beneficiaries by will, heirs by intestacy and transferees by operation of law. The tax rate varies depending on the relationship of the heir to the decedent. 
   
   The rates for Pennsylvania inheritance tax are as follows: 
   
   0 percent on transfers to a surviving spouse or to a parent from a child aged 21 or younger; 
   
   4.5 percent on transfers to direct descendants and lineal heirs; 
   
   12 percent on transfers to siblings; and 
   
   15 percent on transfers to other heirs, except charitable organizations, exempt institutions and government entities exempt from tax. 
   
   Property owned jointly between spouses is exempt from inheritance tax. 
   
   Effective for estates of decedents dying after June 30, 2012, certain farm land and other agricultural property are exempt from Pennsylvania inheritance tax, provided the property is transferred to eligible recipients. For more information about the exemptions and related requirements, please review Inheritance Tax Informational Notice 2012-01. 
   
   Inheritance tax payments are due upon the death of the decedent and become delinquent nine months after the individual's death. If inheritance tax is paid within three months of the decedent's death, a 5 percent discount is allowed. 
   
   For further information and answers to commonly asked questions, please review the brochure, Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax and Safe Deposit Boxes. 
   
   For detailed and historic Pennsylvania inheritance tax information, please review the Tax Compendium.
target: – Roland Bosee Jr., 68, and Nino Esposito, 78, have been inseparable since they first met in 1970. "You meet someone and it just clicks," Esposito told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last month. So with the SCOTUS decision over the summer to legalize gay marriage, the men looked forward to finally tying the knot. But one issue is holding them back: Esposito is technically Bosee's father, because he adopted him in 2012. "We thought never in our lifetime—or in 20 lifetimes—...same-sex marriage [would] happen," Bosee said, adding to CNN that the adoption "gave us the most legitimate thing available to us" at the time. Even though they petitioned to have the adoption annulled, Allegheny County Judge Lawrence O'Toole —known for being progressive on LGBT issues—rejected that plea, noting that adoptions are typically only dissolved when fraud is involved and that nixing theirs "would place in jeopardy and imperil adoption decrees generally." Adoptions of this sort are often sought to cement legal status for financial and other reasons, as well as to strengthen emotional ties. The men said it was both: Esposito told the Post-Gazette "we felt we lacked a family of our own," but they also discovered that any money they inherited from each other would be subject to a much greater inheritance tax if they weren't considered relatives. One person on the couple's side: Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, who tells the Post-Gazette, "I wasn't aware that LGBT couples were turning to this method. I can't even imagine having to get an adoption petition approved … to visit a loved one in the hospital." Casey has written a letter of support to AG Loretta Lynch, asking her office to "consider issuing guidance" in cases like this; her office is reviewing it, a rep tells CNN. (The gay marriage decision held up a heterosexual couple's divorce.)