On July 17, 2024, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed House Bill No. 115 into law, making it Act No. 65 of 2024 (the “Act”). The Act amends Pennsylvania’s Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries Code, making it easier for relatives to claim abandoned or unclaimed property and money of their deceased relatives.
KingSpry’s Estate & Trust Law Practice Chair, Paul S. Frank, Esq., reviews the new law and details how it changes the process of obtaining abandoned or unclaimed property for heirs in Pennsylvania.
A Need for Reform
In his Sponsor memorandum, Representative Joe Ciresi stated that nearly $4 billion in unclaimed property was sitting in the Pennsylvania Treasury as of December, 2022. Due to an inconsistency in Pennsylvania’s Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries Code (the “Code”), many relatives have a difficult time legitimately claiming unclaimed property on behalf of their deceased loved ones. Enactment of this new legislation removes unnecessary obstacles and makes it easier for money to get to its rightful owners.
Prior Process
Until now, only a surviving spouse, child, parent, or sibling of a decedent were permitted to file an unclaimed property claim using a notarized sworn relationship affidavit to recover a deceased relative’s unclaimed property, valued up to $11,000, from the State Treasurer. This applied whether an estate was opened or not, which saved the heirs time and money.
However, several types of relatives, including grandchildren, grandparents, nephews/nieces, and aunts/uncles were not included in this section of the Code. As such, they could not claim unclaimed property by affidavit, even if they were the closest surviving relative.
New Process
The Act amends Section 3101(e) of the Code, which authorizes the State Treasurer to distribute a decedent’s unclaimed property under the following conditions:
- The value of the unclaimed property is $11,000 or less;
- The claim is made by the surviving spouse, child(ren), grandchild(ren) parent(s), sibling(s), nephews/nieces, grandparent(s), or uncle(s)/aunt(s) (or their child(ren) or grandchild(ren)), with preference given in that order; and
- A personal representative of the deceased relative’s estate has not been appointed or five (5) years has lapsed since the appointment of a personal representative of the estate.
To recover the unclaimed property, the claimant must provide the State Treasurer with the following:
- A certified death certificate of the deceased relative;
- A sworn affidavit setting forth (i) the relationship of the claimant to the deceased relative, (ii) the existence or nonexistence of a duly appointed personal representative of the deceased relative’s estate, (iii) any other person(s) that may be entitled to make a claim to the decedent’s property, and (iv) a statement that the claimant is the surviving spouse or a member of a class of people with the strongest claim to the property pursuant to Section 3101(e)(1)(ii); and
- Other information deemed necessary by the State Treasurer.
Effective Date
The Act takes effect on September 15, 2024.
