Pennsylvania provides a number of ways that estate property of a deceased individual can be distributed. Usually, this involves opening an estate. When this step is taken, the personal representative for the decedent receives Letters Testamentary as the executor named in a Will or gets Letters of Administration as the administrator when no Will naming an available executor is found. Pennsylvania law dictates who can be chosen as the administrator. Meanwhile, assets with a named beneficiary or a co-owner with a right of survivorship are transferred outside the estate.
There are other ways to distribute estate property without going through the usual steps to transfer estate property. When an estate has a total value of less than $50,000 in real and personal property, the personal representative can settle it by petition. This is possible one year after an estate is opened and the first complete advertisement of the grant of letters.
On the other hand, small estates consisting of no more than a gross value of $50,000 in personal property can be settled by a petition to the court. This does not require an estate to be opened. In this situation, you would not deal with any real estate owned by the deceased in this petition. The procedure also does not count payments to family and funeral directors under Section 3101 of the Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries (PEF) Code, which is the focus of the remainder of this article.
Payments to Family & Funeral Directors under Section 3101
Distributions under Section 3101 deal with the transfer of ownership of estate property without requiring any action involving an estate or the court. This property generally is monetary and can come from a variety of sources. As set out in the PEF Code, there are a number of ways for specific persons to obtain payments. The total value must be below a maximum amount, as well. The distribution would not involve the court system since you would not need to get a short certificate to transfer ownership. In addition, there is no need to present a petition when this provision applies. A brief review of what can be obtained without opening an estate follows.
The employer of a person who resided in Pennsylvania at the time of death can pay wages, salary, or employee benefits up to $5,000 to the person’s spouse, any of her children, her mother or father, or any brother or sister of the individual. The distribution preference in this and the other categories follows the order in which they are listed. Therefore, a surviving spouse is preferred over anyone else listed here. The person receiving payment of this estate property can be held accountable if the distribution was improper, although the employer is released from liability.
Banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, and other savings organizations also are permitted to release funds of an estate after the death of a depositor, a member, or a certificate holder. The amount cannot exceed $10,000. Also, a receipt for the funeral bill or an affidavit of a licensed funeral director acknowledging satisfactory payment plans have been made has to be presented. The order of preference is the same as in the prior paragraph: a spouse, any child, the mother or father, or any sibling of the decedent.
A patient’s care account also can be accessed when the deceased was a qualified recipient of Medical Assistance and a patient in a facility that held such an account for the individual. The payment first would be released to a licensed funeral director for burial expenses of $10,000 or less. The facility can pay what remains, again, to a spouse, any child, a parent, or any sibling. The total amount paid from the account cannot be more than $10,000, though.
A life insurance policy that does not name a living beneficiary (primary or contingent), for example, results in property payable to the estate. Unlike most estate property, these life insurance proceeds are not subject to inheritance tax. They can be paid to the same list of relatives, in the same order, as listed in previous paragraphs. The insurer’s payment cannot exceed $11,000. There is a 60-day period following the death before the payment can be made. In addition, payment cannot be made if there has been written contact from an estate’s personal representative before the funds are released. The adult requesting the payment must submit an affidavit specifying the relationship to the decedent.
Finally, under Section 3101, estate property of a Pennsylvania resident held by the Bureau of Unclaimed Property can be released by Pennsylvania’s Treasurer. Certain conditions have to be met. One condition is that the person making the claim must be one of the following: the surviving spouse, a child of the deceased, one of the individual’s parent, or a sibling. In addition, the unclaimed funds or abandoned property must be no more than $11,000 in value. Finally, there cannot be a personal representative for the decedent or – if there is one – this person must have been appointed at least five years ago. The claimant submits the required documentation to the Treasurer, who determines if the claimant is entitled under the statute to claim the property.
Transfer of Title to a Vehicle
One additional category for transferring estate property without opening an estate or petitioning the court merits mention. Transfers of title to motor vehicles from a decedent can be accomplished without having opening an estate. The Vehicle Code permits title to be transferred from a deceased owner to certain relatives.
For example, when there is no Will, a surviving spouse could assign the title to another person. As long as this person submits the proper documents to the Department of Transportation, she becomes the new owner. In addition to an acceptable proof of death (usually, a death certificate), you need Form MV-39 (“Notification of Assignment/Correction of Vehicle Title upon Death of Owner”) and Form MV-4ST (“Vehicle Sales and Use Tax/Application for Registration”). Although you must submit a sales tax form, no sales tax is assessed. However, you may have to pay inheritance tax.
Other relatives may be involved in this assignment of title, as well. For instance, if the decedent had children over 18 years old and a surviving spouse, all would have to sign the MV-39 form transferring title to whomever they choose. Rather than review all possible fact patterns in which relatives can assign title, the Department of Transportation has a fact sheet on its website that detailing possible transfers after the owner’s death.
The categories of estate property that have been reviewed are examples of transfers of property without letters testamentary or letters of administration being issued. Other possibilities meeting this criterion, such as a small estate petition, involve the entire estate or, at least, all of the personal property of the decedent. They also action through the court. The categories of estate property discussed here do not require action involving the court. I will leave you with one word of caution to keep in mind, though. Since property was transferred from an estate, you still must check on the possibility that you have to pay inheritance tax.