Governor Wolfe signed H.B. 203 on 10/30/2017, making it Act 41 of 2017.

The original purpose of the bill was to allow $10,000 (up from $5,000) in post-death wages to be paid to the family without a grant of letters under PEF Code 3101(a).  (This parallels the recent increases from $5,000 to $10,000 in subsections 3101(b) and (c).)

A Senate amendment added a new rule of construction to Chapter 76, on powers of appointment. Section 7602(E)(2) had stated that a grant of a testamentary power to appoint to the donee’s creditors shall include the power to appoint to creditors of the donee’s estate.  The amendment adds a new rule that is the logical inverse, which is that the denial of a power to appoint to the donee’s creditors shall be construed as a denial to appoint to the creditors of the donee’s estate.