S.B. 115 has been passed by both houses of the Pennsylvania legislature and was signed by the governor on July 17, 2024, becoming Act 65 of 2024, P.L. ___, to be effective in 60 days.

The bill amends 20 Pa.C.S. § 3101(e) (one of the provisions for dispositions for which letters are not required) to enlarge the category of persons who may claim unclaimed property deposited with the Pennsylvania Treasurer. Previously, claimants could be a spouse, child, mother or father, or sister or brother of the decedent. As amended, § 3101(e) allows claims by a spouse, issue, parents, brother or sister (or issue of a brother or sister), or grandparent of the decedent, with preference given in that order. So grandchildren (and their issue), nephews and nieces (and their issue), and grandparents are now included among the permissible claimants.

A new requirement for making the claim is that the sworn affidavit that is required must state that the claimant is among the persons with the strongest claim to the property.