IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Tiffany Bonita McCall, :

Petitioner :

:

v. : No. 423 C.D. 2017

: Submitted: September 8, 2017

Pennsylvania Treasury Department :

Bureau of Unclaimed Property, :

Respondent :

BEFORE: HONORABLE MARY HANNAH LEAVITT, President Judge

HONORABLE ANNE E. COVEY, Judge

HONORABLE DAN PELLEGRINI, Senior Judge

OPINION NOT REPORTED

MEMORANDUM OPINION 

BY PRESIDENT JUDGE LEAVITT FILED: November 29, 2017

Tiffany McCall (Claimant), pro se, appeals an order of the Bureau of 

Unclaimed Property of the Treasury Department (Bureau) denying her claim to 

certain unclaimed property. The Bureau found Claimant ineligible to claim the 

property under Section 3101(e) of the Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries Code (PEF

Code).1 We affirm.

At issue in this case are death benefit checks in the amounts of $352, 

$409, $686, and $550, issued by American General Life and Accident Insurance in 

the name of Pauline Davis, who died on May 16, 1998.2 Lula Hayes, who was 

Davis’s sister and the designated beneficiary of the death benefits, predeceased 

Davis. Because no estate was opened for Davis, the insurance company remitted the 

 

1

20 Pa. C.S. §3101(e), set forth infra at 4.

2 The Bureau assigned Property ID Nos. 12930522, 12930523, 12930524, and 12930525 to the 

checks. 
2

checks to the Bureau as unclaimed property in accordance with Pennsylvania’s 

Disposition of Abandoned and Unclaimed Property Act (Unclaimed Property Act).

3

On June 23, 2016, Claimant filed a claim with the Bureau asserting that 

she is entitled to the unclaimed death benefit checks. Claimant asserted that her 

father, Sidney Darnell McCall, who died in 2007, was Davis’s adopted son, making

Davis her adoptive grandmother. In support, Claimant submitted the death 

certificates of her father and Davis, as well as her father’s obituary, which identified

Davis as his adoptive mother. The Bureau denied Claimant’s claim.

Claimant filed a petition for review.4 The Bureau responded that 

Claimant failed to provide sufficient evidence that Davis is her adoptive 

grandmother. The Bureau further argued that, pursuant to Section 3101(e) of the 

PEF Code, a grandchild is ineligible for distribution of unclaimed property where 

the decedent died intestate and no estate was opened. Certified Record (C.R.), Item 

No. 2, Answer and New Matter ¶¶13-14.

The presiding officer held a pre-hearing conference call on January 11, 

2017, after which Claimant was given an additional 30 days to submit proof of her 

father’s adoption. In light of the fact that Claimant was unable to obtain paperwork 

from the adoption agency, the presiding officer suggested she contact the school 

district for evidence. Claimant later provided evidence from the school district 

showing that her father lived at the same address as Davis. 

 

3 Act of April 9, 1929, P.L. 343, added by Section 5 of the Act of December 9, 1982, P.L. 1057, 

as amended, 72 P.S. §§1301.1-1301.29. Property that is abandoned or unclaimed is subject to the 

custody and control of the Commonwealth. Section 1301.2(a) of the Unclaimed Property Act, 72 

P.S. §1301.2(a). 

4 A claimant whose claim the Bureau denies may file a petition for review, and the State Treasurer 

will designate a presiding officer “to exercise the powers and duties of the State Treasurer with 

respect to matters concerning petitions for review.” 61 Pa. Code §§951.21 (a), (b). 
3

On March 9, 2017, the presiding officer issued a decision denying 

Claimant’s claim. He found that Claimant’s father was adopted by Davis and was 

her “only living heir” at the time of her death. Final Decision at 4; Findings of Fact 

No. 1. He further found that Claimant’s father was survived by seven children, 

including Claimant. The presiding officer concluded, however, that Claimant was

ineligible to claim the unclaimed death benefit checks because she was not a 

“surviving spouse, child, mother or father, or sister or brother of a decedent, in this 

case, Pauline Davis.” Id. at 9 (citing Section 3101(e) of the PEF Code, 20 Pa. C.S. 

§3101(e)). The presiding officer noted that even if Claimant was eligible to claim 

the property, she would have only been entitled to one seventh of the value of the

checks because she has six siblings. Id. at 10. Claimant now petitions for this 

Court’s review.5

Claimant has raised one issue in her appeal to this Court, i.e., whether 

she met her burden of proving that she was entitled to the unclaimed death benefit 

checks. Claimant argues that she established that her father was adopted by Davis. 

Claimant Brief at 9. According to Claimant, she “was able to satisfy every form of 

document requested by the [Bureau], with the exception of one document [i.e., 

paperwork from the adoption agency] ... due to circumstances that was (sic) out of 

her control.” Id. at 10. Claimant argues that the presiding officer’s decision to deny 

her claim was based on “speculation and assumptions” rather than substantial 

evidence. Id. at 9. 

 

5 Our scope of review is to determine whether constitutional rights were violated, whether an error 

of law was committed, or whether the findings of fact are supported by substantial evidence. First 

Federal Savings and Loan Association of Hazleton v. Office of the State Treasurer, Unclaimed 

Property Review Committee, 650 A.2d 1166, 1167 n.4 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1994). 
4

Contrary to Claimant’s assertion, the presiding officer did not 

disbelieve the evidence she presented; indeed, he found that Davis adopted 

Claimant’s father, who was Davis’s “only living heir” at the time of her death. Final 

Decision at 4; Findings of Fact No. 1. Nevertheless, the presiding officer denied 

Claimant’s claim pursuant to Section 3101(e)(1) of the PEF Code, which provides: 

(e) Unclaimed property.--

(1) In any case where property or funds owned by an individual 

who has died a resident of this Commonwealth have been 

reported to the Commonwealth and are in the custody of the State 

Treasurer as unclaimed or abandoned property, the State 

Treasurer, at any time after the death of the individual, shall be 

authorized under this section to distribute the property or to pay 

the amount being held in custody where all of the following 

conditions are present:

(i) The amount of the funds or the value of the 

property is $11,000 or less.

(ii) The person claiming the property or the funds is 

the surviving spouse, child, mother or father, or 

sister or brother of the decedent, with preference 

given in that order.

(iii) A personal representative of the decedent has 

not been appointed or five years have lapsed since 

the appointment of a personal representative of the 

decedent.

20 Pa. C.S. §3101(e)(1) (emphasis added). The parties do not dispute that Davis, 

the “decedent” in the instant case, is the record owner of the unclaimed property; 

therefore, only her “surviving spouse, child, mother or father, or sister or brother” is 

eligible to claim the property. 20 Pa. C.S. §3101(e)(1)(ii). Accordingly, the 
5

presiding officer did not err in concluding that Claimant, as Davis’s adoptive 

grandchild, is ineligible to file the claim.6

For all of the foregoing reasons, we affirm the Bureau’s order.

 ________________________________________________

 MARY HANNAH LEAVITT, President Judge

 

6 Our holding that Claimant is ineligible to claim the property at issue does not preclude Claimant 

from opening of an estate for her father and asserting ownership rights through the estate.
IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Tiffany Bonita McCall, :

Petitioner :

:

v. : No. 423 C.D. 2017

: 

Pennsylvania Treasury Department :

Bureau of Unclaimed Property, :

Respondent :

O R D E R

AND NOW, this 29th day of November, 2017, the order of the 

Pennsylvania Treasury Department, Bureau of Unclaimed Property, dated March 9, 

2017, in the above-captioned matter is hereby AFFIRMED. 

 ______________________________________

 MARY HANNAH LEAVITT, President Judge