How to File Payments to Family and Funeral Directors in Pennsylvania: Step by Step

Filing Payments to Family and Funeral Directors in Pennsylvania means completing the official form under 20 Pa. C.S. § 3101. Here is the full sequence, with the statutory fact behind each step.

1. 1

   Identify which of the five subsections actually applies

   This mechanism isn't one flat process — it's five separate payment categories, each with its own dollar cap and its own rule for whether the payor must pay or may simply choose to: wages/salary ($10,000, employer's choice), deposit accounts ($20,000, bank must pay if conditions are met), a patient's care account ($10,000, facility's choice), life insurance ($11,000, only after a 60-day wait), and unclaimed property held by the State Treasurer ($20,000, State Treasurer must pay if conditions are met). Confirm which asset and which subsection actually applies before filling anything out.

2. 2

   Confirm you're within the statutory priority order

   For wages, deposit accounts, and a patient's care account, only the spouse, then a child, then a parent, then a sibling can claim — strictly in that order. Unclaimed property held by the State Treasurer uses a different, broader class tied to Pennsylvania's intestate-succession priority instead. Confirm your relationship to the decedent fits before proceeding.

3. 3

   Get the affidavit from your county's Register of Wills

   No single statewide agency issues this form, since it's presented directly to a private party rather than filed with a court — but several counties' Registers of Wills publish a working fill-in version as a public service. Lancaster County's and Philadelphia's are confirmed to be the same template; Dauphin, Chester, Berks, and Erie Counties publish their own. Check your own county Register of Wills' forms page first. View source →

4. 4

   Gather the death certificate and, for a deposit-account claim, funeral documentation

   Every claim needs a certified death certificate. A deposit-account claim under subsection (b) additionally needs either a receipted funeral bill or an affidavit from a licensed funeral director confirming satisfactory funeral-payment arrangements — this is a statutory condition of the bank's mandatory duty to pay, not an optional extra.

5. 5

   Sign the affidavit before a notary

   The affidavit is a sworn statement, notarized, listing the decedent, the claimant's relationship and priority position, and the specific asset being claimed. There's no waiting period after death for wages, deposit accounts, or a patient's care account — the statute allows presentation 'at any time after the death.'

6. 6

   Present it directly to the bank, employer, facility, or the State Treasurer

   Unlike Pennsylvania's court-filed small estate petition, this affidavit is never filed with any court or Register of Wills for approval — it goes straight to whoever is holding the asset. There's no court filing fee at all for this route.

7. 7

   If the payor hesitates, point to the discharge language directly

   Every subsection discharges a complying payor 'to the same extent as if payment had been made to a duly appointed personal representative,' with liability for any improper distribution shifting to the person who received the money, not the payor. Citing this directly to a hesitant bank or employer often resolves internal caution faster than escalating.

Get the official Pennsylvania form

Download the state's own fill-in instrument directly — never a third-party paywalled copy: Official Payments to Family and Funeral Directors form . No single Commonwealth agency issues this form centrally — because it's presented directly to a bank or employer, not filed with any court, there's no court to issue an official form from in the first place. Several county Registers of Wills nonetheless publish their own fill-in affidavit as a public service, and Lancaster County's and Philadelphia's versions are confirmed to be the same template lineage (Philadelphia's linked here is the most recently revised, December 2020). Dauphin, Chester, Berks, and Erie Counties publish their own versions too — check your own county Register of Wills, since no single copy is 'the' official statewide form.

The step that isn't really paperwork

Presenting it to the bank, DMV, or title company is where families actually lose time — most front-line staff have never processed this kind of filing before. Free one-pager: what to bring and what to say before you go, emailed now. Then a few short follow-ups over the next few weeks — then we stop. No ongoing newsletter.

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