Register of Wills
Register of Wills
Register of Wills & Clerk of Orphans' Court Division
RegOfWills@co.delaware.pa.us
Rachel Ezzell Berry, Esquire was appointed as the Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans’ Court by the Delaware County Council in March of 2020 during the statewide COVID-19 shutdown. Rachel quickly designed systems to handle over 5,000 estates and marriage licenses virtually; opened the office’s first e-commerce store; increased transparency by migrating the office’s records online; and implemented innovative print-at-home options that saved taxpayers thousands of dollars. She also became the first Register in Pennsylvania to have a baby while in office. She was elected to a full four-year term in November 2021.
Rachel is an attorney and businesswoman who was born and raised in Delaware County. In addition to serving as the Register of Wills, she is Counsel to American Services Corporation, a family business headquartered in Delaware County. Previously, she was a litigation attorney at Dechert LLP and a clerk for federal judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals and U.S. District Court. The Register of Wills is a quasi-judicial official who rules on legal petitions related to will contests and presides over evidentiary hearings involving civil matters such as fraud, undue influence, and testamentary capacity. Rachel has thousands of hours of courtroom experience at all stages of litigation and has worked closely with judges from across the political spectrum. She relies on her courtroom experience during hearings, demonstrating compassion to all parties and deciding cases based not on politics, but on what the law requires.
Rachel started college as a Pell Grant recipient (indicating exceptional financial need) and worked her way up. She earned her A.S. with highest honors from Delaware County Community College. She earned her B.B.A. summa cum laude in Economics and International Business from Temple University, where she was the top graduating student in both of her majors. She earned her J.D. magna cum laude, Order of the Coif from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was Book Review Editor of the Michigan Law Review. Her legal scholarship has been published in in LexisNexis’s Pennsylvania Civil Pre-Trial Practice and Trial Practice Guides, and cited in the legal community’s top journals, including the Yale Law Journal and Harvard Law Review.
Rachel has a long history of community service leadership across Delco. Among other leadership positions, she is a Director of the Delaware County Bar Association, the Chair of the Delaware County Economic Development Oversight Board, and the Chair of the Women’s Section of the Delaware County Bar Association. She has served in numerous local organizations including the Delaware County Bar Association Inn of Court, Friends of the Chester Creek Trail, and League of Women Voters, as well as a homeroom mom in the Rose-Tree Media School District. She lives in Middletown Township with her husband and young children.