Pennsylvania Affidavit of Heirship
Pennsylvania's affidavit carries no waiting period at all, but under 21 P.S. Section 451 it becomes admissible evidence of heirship only if a Pennsylvania-bar attorney signs a certification, appended to the affidavit, stating they relied on it in passing on the title.
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What brings you to an affidavit of heirship?
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Introduction
An affidavit of heirship is a sworn statement identifying a deceased person's heirs. Pennsylvania recognises it by name: 21 P.S. Section 451, part of the Act of November 5, 1981, No. 118, titled Real Estate - Affidavits Affecting Titles, lets any person with personal knowledge record a sworn affidavit stating facts, including heirship, that may affect title to real estate. Recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds or Commissioner of Records in the county where the real estate sits, the affidavit needs no acknowledgment to be recorded and carries no waiting period, the mirror image of states such as Texas that require years of record first. Its evidentiary weight instead rests on a different gate: under Section 451, the affidavit is admissible evidence of the facts it states only if a member of the Pennsylvania bar signs a certification, appended to the affidavit, stating that the attorney relied on it in passing on the title. It does not transfer, convey, or vest title to real property; under 20 Pa.C.S. Section 301(b), a decedent's real estate already passes to the heirs or devisees at death, subject to the powers of a personal representative and the orphans' court, so the affidavit only puts a record of who those heirs are into the chain of title.
Key Things to Know
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Pennsylvania's affidavit is admissible evidence of the facts it states under 21 P.S. Section 451, but only if a member of the Pennsylvania bar signs a certification, appended to the affidavit, stating that the attorney relied on it in passing on the title to the real estate. Skip the certification and the affidavit sits outside the statute's evidentiary guarantee. This is an attorney-gated instrument, not a time-gated one.
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There is no waiting period. Section 451 sets no minimum number of days of record before the affidavit counts as evidence, the opposite of Texas (five years), Missouri (five), or Colorado (twenty). Pennsylvania trades the wait for the attorney certification described above.
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Only one affiant is required, and Pennsylvania's statute never asks for a disinterested one. Section 451 asks for any person having personal knowledge of the facts and competent to testify to them in open court; the text is singular throughout. If a Pennsylvania title company asks for two disinterested witnesses, that is underwriting practice, not the statute.
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Record the affidavit with the Office of the Recorder of Deeds or Commissioner of Records in the county where the real estate is located. Section 451 lets it be recorded even though not acknowledged, unlike an ordinary deed.
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This affidavit does not transfer, convey, or vest title to real property. Under 20 Pa.C.S. Section 301(b), legal title to a decedent's real estate passes to the heirs or devisees at death by operation of law, subject to the powers granted a personal representative and to orders of the orphans' court. The affidavit only puts a record of who those heirs are into the chain of title; it never moves ownership itself.
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The affidavit covers real property only. Its home statute is titled Real Estate - Affidavits Affecting Titles, and every operative clause is scoped to title to real estate. Pennsylvania's personal-property small estate petition, 20 Pa.C.S. Section 3102, is a separate court filing capped at $50,000 that expressly excludes real estate, so the two instruments do not overlap.
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Where an estate needs active administration, such as paying debts or selling the property, the affidavit is not the tool. That requires a personal representative and formal probate under 20 Pa.C.S. Chapter 31, Subchapter D; the affidavit only records who the heirs are for a later purchaser's or title examiner's benefit.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Affidavit of Heirship in Pennsylvania, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Affidavit of Heirship guide walks through them.
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Pennsylvania Requirements for Affidavit of Heirship
Under 21 P.S. Section 451, this affidavit is admissible evidence of the facts it states only if a member of the Pennsylvania bar signs a certification, appended to the affidavit, stating that the attorney relied on it in passing on the title to the real estate.
Section 451 sets no minimum number of days of record before this affidavit counts as evidence, unlike Texas, Missouri, or Colorado. Pennsylvania instead conditions the evidentiary effect on the attorney certification.
21 P.S. Section 451 requires only one person with personal knowledge of the facts who is competent to testify to them in open court. There is no two-affiant or disinterested-affiant requirement in the statute.
Under 21 P.S. Section 451, this affidavit may be recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds or Commissioner of Records of the county where the real estate is situated even though not acknowledged.
Under 20 Pa.C.S. Section 301(b), a decedent's real estate passes to the heirs or devisees at death by operation of law. This affidavit only makes the record reflect who those heirs are; it does not transfer, convey, or vest title.
This affidavit addresses real property only. Pennsylvania's personal-property small estate petition, 20 Pa.C.S. Section 3102, is a separate orphans' court filing capped at $50,000 that expressly excludes real estate.
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Check my Affidavit of HeirshipFrequently Asked Questions
No. This affidavit does not transfer, convey, or vest title to real property in Pennsylvania. Under 20 Pa.C.S. Section 301(b), a decedent's real estate passes to the heirs or devisees at death by operation of law, subject to the powers of a personal representative and the orphans' court. The affidavit only makes the recorded chain of title reflect who those heirs already are.
There is no waiting period. But under 21 P.S. Section 451, the affidavit is admissible evidence of the facts it states only if a member of the Pennsylvania bar signs a certification, appended to the affidavit, stating that the attorney relied on it in passing on the title. Skip that certification and the affidavit falls outside the statute's evidentiary guarantee, no matter how long it has been recorded.
One person is enough. 21 P.S. Section 451 asks only for a person having personal knowledge of the facts stated who is competent to testify to them in open court. Pennsylvania imposes no two-affiant rule and no disinterestedness requirement; if a title company asks for two disinterested witnesses, that is underwriting practice, not the statute.
A licensed attorney's certification. Under 21 P.S. Section 451, the affidavit is admissible evidence of the stated facts only if a member of the bar of Pennsylvania's highest court signs a certification, appended to the document, stating that the attorney relied on it in passing on the title to the real estate. Without it, the affidavit sits outside the statute's evidentiary grant.
File it in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds or Commissioner of Records of the county where the real estate is situated. Under 21 P.S. Section 451, this affidavit may be recorded even though not acknowledged, unlike an ordinary deed.
No. Pennsylvania's small estate mechanism, the petition under 20 Pa.C.S. Section 3102, goes to the orphans' court, is capped at $50,000, and expressly excludes real estate. An affidavit of heirship under 21 P.S. Section 451 is the real-property counterpart: no petition, no court order, no value cap, just a recorded affidavit with an attorney's reliance certification.
Not for the evidentiary purpose the statute grants. 21 P.S. Section 451 conditions its admissibility grant on a Pennsylvania-bar attorney's certification, appended to the affidavit, that the attorney relied on it in passing on title. Recording alone, without that certification, is not enough to invoke the statute's evidentiary effect.
When the estate needs active administration, such as paying debts or selling the property. That requires a personal representative and formal probate under 20 Pa.C.S. Chapter 31, Subchapter D. The affidavit only records who the heirs are for a later purchaser's or title examiner's benefit; it does not administer the estate.