Pennsylvania Act 2002-80 — PROBATE, ESTATE AND FIDUCIARIES CODE (20PA.C.S.) - AMEND DISPOSITIONS OF DECEDENT'S PROPERTY INDEPENDENT OF GRANTING LETTERS

Act text

PROBATE, ESTATE AND FIDUCIARIES CODE (20PA.C.S.) - AMEND DISPOSITIONS OF
           DECEDENT'S PROPERTY INDEPENDENT OF GRANTING LETTERS
                  Act of Jun. 28, 2002, P.L. 478, No. 80              Cl. 20
                             Session of 2002
                               No. 2002-80

     SB 592

                                  AN ACT

     Amending Title 20 (Decedents, Estates and Fiduciaries) of the
        Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for
        dispositions of decedent's property independent of granting
        letters.

        The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
     hereby enacts as follows:

        Section 1.  Section 3101 of Title 20 of the Pennsylvania
     Consolidated Statutes is amended by adding a subsection 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 be authorized under this section to
        distribute the property or to pay the amount being held in
        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
            sister or brother 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 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.
                (iii)  Other information determined by the State
            Treasurer to be necessary in order to distribute property
            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 immediately.

     APPROVED--The 28th day of June, A. D. 2002.

     MARK S. SCHWEIKER