New Pa. law will direct heirless estates to aid local nonprofits

A change to Pennsylvania law will end a decades-old practice of turning over estates of Pennsylvania residents who die without relatives to the state.

Effective on Jan. 23, 2026, Act 50 of 2025 updates Pennsylvania’s Intestate Succession law, so that when someone dies and no heirs can be found, their estate will be placed into an endowed community fund managed by the community foundation in their home county.

According to a news release by the York County Register of Wills & Clerk of Orphans’ Court, the endowed funds will provide permanent, charitable support to local nonprofits and the needs of the community. According to the Pennsylvania Community Foundations Association, each county in Pa., is served by a community foundation with an endowed community fund or by a regional foundation that provides county-specific funds.

The law is the result of a collaborative initiative led by the Registers of Wills & Clerks of Orphans’ Court Association of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Community Foundations Association and passed with unanimous support in the General Assembly.

Gov. Josh Shapiro signed Act 50 into law on Nov. 24, 2025.

“For too long, Pennsylvania effectively imposed a 100% tax on residents who died without family or a will,” said Bryan Tate, York County Register of Wills & Clerk of Orphans’ Court and president of the Registers of Wills & Clerks of Orphans’ Court Association of Pennsylvania.

“Act 50 ensures that a person’s life savings can now be remembered and celebrated by benefiting the community they called home — forever.”

Prior to Act 50, the Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries Code required that when no family survived a decedent, the estate passed directly to the Commonwealth to be used in the state’s annual budget. Act 50 amends the law to add endowed community funds as the final successor before assets would pass to the Commonwealth.

Under the updated law, if a Pa., resident dies without a will or their will cannot be located, assets will pass in the following order:

1. Decedent’s children
2. Decedent’s parents
3. Decedent’s siblings and their children
4. Decedent’s grandparents
5. Decedent’s aunts, uncles, and their children, and grandchildren
6. An endowed community fund at the community foundation serving the decedent’s county
7. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, if no endowed community fund exists

More information on Act 50 of 2025, is available on the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s official website.