Pennsylvania Affidavit of Heirship

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   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.

2. 2

   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.

3. 3

   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.

4. 4

   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.

5. 5

   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.

6. 6

   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.

7. 7

   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.

Pennsylvania Requirements for Affidavit of Heirship

• Pennsylvania Attorney Certification Required for Evidentiary Effect

  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.

• Pennsylvania No Waiting Period

  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.

• Pennsylvania Single-Affiant Rule, No Disinterested Requirement

  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.

• Pennsylvania Recording Without Acknowledgment

  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.

• Pennsylvania Affidavit Does Not Transfer Title

  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.

• Pennsylvania Real-Property-Only Scope

  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.