State Unclaimed Property in Pennsylvania

State Unclaimed Property in Pennsylvania: key facts

Administering office

Pennsylvania Treasury, Bureau of Unclaimed Property.

Official search

unclaimedproperty.patreasury.gov (free search and online claims).

Heir claim documents

A short certificate (Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration) from the Register of Wills is required when an estate is open, when a personal representative was appointed within the last five years, or when the property is worth more than $20,000. Otherwise a certified death certificate plus a sworn relationship affidavit is accepted.

No deadline

The Treasury holds unclaimed property (and the proceeds of any auctioned property) in perpetuity, so heirs generally face no deadline to file a claim.

Claim without probate

Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3101(e), the State Treasurer may pay a deceased Pennsylvania resident's unclaimed property directly to family — on a Relationship by Entitlement to Decedent Owner Affidavit — when the property is worth $20,000 or less and no personal representative was ever appointed (or five years have lapsed since the appointment). Eligible claimants, in preference order: surviving spouse, then the decedent's issue (child, grandchild, great-grandchild), parents, siblings and their issue (nieces and nephews), and grandparents. Act 65 of 2024 (effective September 15, 2024) expanded the eligible categories; Act 50 of 2025 (effective May 25, 2026) raised the ceiling from $11,000 to $20,000.

Required with the affidavit

A certified death certificate of the owner and a sworn affidavit setting out the claimant's relationship to the decedent, whether a personal representative was appointed, and any other persons who could claim (20 Pa.C.S. § 3101(e)(2)).

Governing law: 72 P.S. 1301.1 et seq. (Disposition of Abandoned and Unclaimed Property Act); 20 Pa.C.S. 3101(e) (heir claims without letters)