Rule 10.5. Notice to Beneficiaries and Intestate Heirs.
(a) Within three months after a grant of letters or whenever there is a change in personal representative, a personal representative or the personal representative’s counsel shall send a written notice of estate administration in the form approved by the Supreme Court to:
(1) every person, corporation, association, entity or other party named in decedent’s will as a beneficiary, whether individually or as a class member;
(2) the decedent’s spouse and children, whether or not they are named in, or have an interest under, the will;
(3) where there is an intestacy in whole or in part, to every person entitled to inherit as an intestate heir under Chapter 21 of Title 20;
(4) the appointed guardian of the estate, parent or legal custodian of any beneficiary who is a minor;
(5) the appointed guardian of the estate or, in the absence of such appointment, the institution or person with custody of any beneficiary who is an adjudicated incapacitated person;
(6) the Attorney General on behalf of any charitable beneficiary (i) which is a residuary beneficiary, including as a beneficiary of a residuary testamentary trust; (ii) whose legacy exceeds $25,000; or (iii) whose interest in a legacy will not be paid in full;
(7) the Attorney General on behalf of any governmental beneficiary;
(8) the fiduciary of any estate or trust which is a beneficiary or, if the personal representative is a fiduciary of such estate or trust, then the beneficiaries of such estate or trust; and
(9) such other persons and in such manner as may be required by local rule.
(b) A ‘‘beneficiary’’ shall be deemed to include any person who may have an interest by virtue of the Pennsylvania anti-lapse statute, 20 Pa.C.S. § 2514.
(c) Notice shall be given by personal service or by first-class, prepaid mail to each person and entity entitled to notice under subparagraph (a)(1)—(9) whose address is known or reasonably available to the personal representative.
(d) Within ten (10) days after giving the notice required by paragraph (a) of this Rule, the personal representative or the personal representative’s counsel shall file with the Register a certification that notice has been given as required by this Rule.
(e) Upon the failure of the personal representative or the personal representative’s counsel to file the certification on a timely basis, the Register shall, after ten days subsequent to providing written notice to each personal representative and their counsel, notify the court of such delinquency.
(f) This Rule shall not alter or diminish existing rights or confer new rights.
(g) The Register shall deliver a copy of Rule 10.5 and the forms of notice and certification approved by the Supreme Court to each personal representative not represented by counsel at the time letters are granted.
Note
Rule 10.5 is derived from former Rule 5.6. Subdivision (a) applies to an initial grant of letters and to all changes in personal representative, including a grant of letters to a successor personal representative or due to the death or resignation of a personal representative when there are other personal representatives who continue to serve. Subdivision (d) of this Rule does not prohibit the Register from charging a fee for filing this certification. The form of notice and certification of notice required by Rule 10.5 is set forth in the Appendix. Subdivision (e) of this Rule is not intended to limit the inherent power of the court to impose sanctions upon a delinquent personal representative or counsel.
Explanatory Comment
It is not the intention of this Rule to require notice beyond the degree of consanguinity entitling a person to inherit under Chapter 21 of Title 20.
Source The provisions of this Rule 10.5 amended October 31, 2019, effective January 1, 2020, 49 Pa.B. 6804; amended January 12, 2022, effective April 1, 2022, 52 Pa.B. 684. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (399717) to (399718).
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