PRINTER'S NO. 98
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
115
Session of
2023
INTRODUCED BY CIRESI, HILL-EVANS, MADDEN, McNEILL, ISAACSON,
DELLOSO, SANCHEZ, SCHLOSSBERG, GUENST, GALLOWAY, KINKEAD,
N. NELSON, CERRATO, D. WILLIAMS AND KHAN, MARCH 7, 2023
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, MARCH 7, 2023
AN ACT
Amending Title 20 (Decedents, Estates and Fiduciaries) of the
Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in dispositions
independent of letters, family exemption, probate of wills
and grant of letters, further providing for payments to
family and funeral directors.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 3101(e) of Title 20 of the Pennsylvania
Consolidated Statutes is amended to read:
§ 3101. Payments to family and funeral directors.
* * *
(e) Unclaimed property.--
(1) In any case where property or funds owned by an
individual who has died a resident of this Commonwealth have
been reported to the Commonwealth and are in the custody of
the State Treasurer as unclaimed or abandoned property, the
State Treasurer, at any time after the death of the
individual, shall only be authorized under this section to
distribute the property or to pay the amount being held in
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
custody where all of the following conditions are present:
(i) The amount of the funds or the value of the
property is $11,000 or less.
(ii) The person claiming the property or the funds
is the surviving spouse[, child, mother or father, or],
issue, parent, sister or brother or their issue,
grandparent or uncle or aunt of the decedent, with
preference given in that order.
(iii) A personal representative of the decedent has
not been appointed or five years have lapsed since the
appointment of a personal representative of the decedent.
(2) Upon being presented with a claim under paragraph
(1) for property owned by a decedent, the State Treasurer
shall require the person claiming the property to provide all
of the following prior to distributing the property or paying
the amount held in custody:
(i) A certified death certificate of the owner.
(ii) A sworn affidavit under the penalties of 18
Pa.C.S. § 4904 (relating to unsworn falsification to
authorities) setting forth the relationship of the
claimant to the decedent, the existence or nonexistence
of a duly appointed personal representative of the
decedent [and], any other persons that may be entitled
under this section to make a claim to the decedent's
property[.] and a statement that the person is the
surviving spouse or the person or a member of the class
of people with the strongest claim to the property or
funds under paragraph (1)(ii).
(iii) Other information determined by the State
Treasurer to be necessary in order to distribute property
20230HB0115PN0098 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
or pay funds under this section to the proper person.
(3) If the State Treasurer determines the claimant to be a
person entitled to claim property of a decedent owner, the State
Treasurer shall pay or distribute such property to the claimant
and shall thereby be released to the same extent as if payment
or distribution had been made to a duly appointed personal
representative of the decedent and shall not be required to
oversee the application of the payments made. Any claimant to
whom payment is made shall be answerable therefore to anyone
prejudiced by an improper distribution or payment.
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
20230HB0115PN0098 - 3 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11