When a Pennsylvania resident dies without a valid will, Title 20 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes decides who inherits. PA intestate succession puts the surviving spouse at the front of the line in almost every case, but the spouse’s share depends on whether the deceased also left children or living parents. If no spouse survives, the estate moves down a fixed priority list: children first, then parents, then siblings, then grandparents, then aunts and uncles. The rules are mechanical. Family expectations, informal promises, and what the deceased “would have wanted” carry no weight.
What Property Is Actually Controlled by These Rules
Intestate succession only governs probate assets — property the deceased owned individually with no built-in transfer mechanism. Bank accounts in the sole name of the deceased, real estate held as a tenant in common, vehicles titled only to the deceased, and personal belongings like furniture and jewelry all fall into this category.
A lot of what people think of as “the estate” actually skips intestacy entirely. Life insurance goes to the named beneficiary. Retirement accounts with a beneficiary designation do the same. Property in a living trust passes under the trust’s terms. Real estate or bank accounts held jointly with right of survivorship pass automatically to the surviving co-owner. Only what’s left after those transfers, and after debts and administration costs are paid, is divided under the rules below.
The Surviving Spouse’s Share
Pennsylvania recognizes four scenarios, and the size of the spouse’s share swings significantly between them.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 2102 – Share of Surviving Spouse
- No children and no surviving parents: the spouse inherits everything.
- No children, but one or both parents of the deceased are alive: the spouse gets the first $30,000 plus half of the balance, and the surviving parent or parents get the other half.
- Children who are also children of the surviving spouse: the spouse gets the first $30,000 plus half of the balance, and the children split the rest.
- Children where at least one is not also the surviving spouse’s child: the spouse gets half of the estate with no $30,000 preference, and the children divide the other half.
The second scenario is the one that surprises people. If a married couple has no children and one spouse dies, the survivor does not automatically inherit everything. A living parent of the deceased splits the estate with the spouse, which can force the sale of a home or the division of savings the surviving spouse assumed were safe.
When a Spouse Doesn’t Inherit
Being legally married at the moment of death is not always enough. A spouse who willfully neglected or refused to support the other for a year or more before death, or who willfully and maliciously deserted the other for a year or more, forfeits all intestate rights.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 2106 – Forfeiture A spouse also forfeits the right to inherit if the deceased died while divorce proceedings were pending and the court had established grounds for divorce, even without a final decree. In each case the estate is distributed as if the disqualified spouse had died first.
A separate rule bars anyone who caused the death of the deceased from taking anything through that death. Pennsylvania’s slayer statute treats the killer as having predeceased the victim for every purpose — intestate share, life insurance, joint accounts, and other death benefits.3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 8802 – Slayer Not to Acquire Property as Result of Slaying
The Order of Heirs When There Is No Surviving Spouse
Whatever is left after the spouse’s share, or the whole estate if no spouse survives, passes through a strict priority list. Only one group inherits. If anyone in a higher group is alive, every lower group gets nothing.4Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 2103 – Shares of Others Than Surviving Spouse
- Children of the deceased. A child who died before the deceased is represented by their own children (the deceased person’s grandchildren).
- Parents, if no children or grandchildren survive.
- Brothers and sisters, if no parent survives. A deceased sibling is represented by their children.
- Grandparents, split between the paternal and maternal sides. If both grandparents on one side are gone with no descendants of their own to take, that side’s half shifts to the other side.
- Aunts and uncles, whose deceased members can be represented by their children and grandchildren.
If no relatives in any of these groups can be found, the estate goes to an endowed community fund in the deceased person’s municipality, school district, or county, and only if no such fund exists does it pass to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
How Multiple Heirs Split a Share
When more than one person in the same group inherits, Pennsylvania uses a method called per capita at each generation.5Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 2104 – Rules of Succession Start at the generation closest to the deceased that has at least one living member. Count each living person at that level, plus each deceased person at that level who left descendants who are still alive. That total is the number of shares. Living people take one share each. The shares that would have gone to the deceased members are pooled and dropped to the next generation, where they are split equally among the survivors there.
An example makes it concrete. Say the deceased had three children: Alice, Bob, and Carol. Alice is alive. Bob has died but left two children. Carol has also died and left one child. The estate first divides into three shares at the children’s level. Alice takes one-third. Bob’s share and Carol’s share are combined into two-thirds and divided equally among the three grandchildren, so each grandchild takes two-ninths. The pooling prevents the accident of which parent died from determining a grandchild’s share.
Adopted Children, Children Born Outside Marriage, and Half-Blood Relatives
An adopted child is treated as a biological child of the adoptive parents for every inheritance purpose and loses inheritance rights from the birth family, with one narrow exception: the child can still inherit from a biological relative other than the birth parent who kept up a family relationship after the adoption.6Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 2108 – Adopted Person When a stepparent adopts and is married to the child’s biological parent, the child keeps the right to inherit from that biological parent as well.
A child born outside of marriage inherits automatically from the mother and through the mother’s family.7Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 2107 – Persons Born Out of Wedlock Inheriting from the father requires that paternity be established, either by the parents later marrying, by the father openly acknowledging the child, or by a court determination. Once established, the child inherits from the father on the same terms as any other child.
Half-siblings inherit exactly the same share as full siblings. Pennsylvania draws no distinction between siblings who share both parents and those who share only one.5Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 2104 – Rules of Succession
The Five-Day Survival Rule
An heir must outlive the deceased by at least five days to take anything under intestacy.5Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 2104 – Rules of Succession Someone who dies within that window is treated as having died before the deceased, and the property moves on to whoever comes next on the list. The rule stops the same assets from passing through two estates in quick succession.
Opening the Estate
Without a will, there is no named executor, so the estate cannot be settled until someone is appointed administrator. That appointment comes from the Register of Wills in the county where the deceased lived, and the statute sets a priority order for who gets it. The surviving spouse has first priority, followed by others entitled to inherit, with preference given to heirs with larger shares. If no family member comes forward, creditors or other suitable people may apply, but they have to wait at least 30 days after the death.8Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 3155 – Persons Entitled
A person charged with voluntary manslaughter or homicide in connection with the death cannot serve as administrator unless the charge is dismissed or they are acquitted. The court can also require the administrator to post a surety bond, though all interested parties can agree to waive that requirement.9Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 3175 – Requiring or Changing Amount of Bond
Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax on Intestate Shares
Whatever an heir receives is subject to Pennsylvania inheritance tax, and the rate turns on the relationship to the deceased.10Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Inheritance Tax
- Surviving spouse: 0 percent. Property owned jointly between spouses is exempt.
- Children, grandchildren, and other lineal descendants: 4.5 percent.
- Siblings: 12 percent.
- Everyone else: 15 percent, with exemptions for charitable organizations and government entities.
Transfers from a child aged 21 or younger to a parent are also taxed at 0 percent. The return is due within nine months of the date of death. Paying the full tax within three months earns a 5 percent discount on the amount owed, which is worth doing on larger estates.