Source: https://govt.westlaw.com/pac/Document/NA407B740342E11DA8A989F4EECDB8638?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default)
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 05:55:27+00:00

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(a) Rights of claimants against personal representatives.--A personal representative, at his own risk and without the filing, audit or confirmation of his account, may distribute real or personal property and such distribution shall be without liability to any claimant against the decedent, unless the claim of such claimant is known to the personal representative within one year after the first complete advertisement of the grant of letters to such personal representative or thereafter but prior to such distribution.
(1) Personal property.--No claimant shall have any claim against personal property distributed by a personal representative at his own risk pursuant to subsection (a), unless the claim of such claimant is known to the personal representative within one year after the first complete advertisement of the grant of letters or thereafter but prior to such distribution.
(2) Real property.--No claimant shall have any claim against real property conveyed by a personal representative in distribution at his own risk pursuant to subsection (a) hereof, unless such claimant, within one year after the decedent's death, files a written notice of his claim with the clerk. Such claim against real property shall expire at the end of five years after the decedent's death, unless within that time the personal representative files an account or the claimant files a petition to compel an accounting.
(3) Liens and charges existing at death.--Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting any lien or charge which existed at the time of the decedent's death on his real or personal property.
(b.1) Limitation on rights of claimants.--A personal representative may make written demand by mail or delivery to any person who may have a claim but who has not previously given written notice of his claim to the personal representative. If the personal representative's demand requests the person to give written notice of his claim within 60 days from the mailing or delivery of the demand or within one year from the first complete advertisement of the grant of letters, whichever is later, and the person fails to do so, the person shall not have any rights with respect to such claim under subsection (a) or (b)(1) and shall not have any right on account of such claim to receive notice of the filing of the personal representative's account and of its call for audit or confirmation. The personal representative shall not be liable to any such person or to any beneficiary, heir or next of kin or creditor of the estate for making or failing to make demand under this subsection.
(c) Record of risk distributions.--The personal representative may file with the clerk receipts, releases and refunding agreements which he may have received from persons to whom he has made a risk distribution, or from other parties in interest. Receipts, releases and refunding agreements so filed shall be indexed under the name of the estate. Their acceptance shall not be construed as court approval of any act of administration or distribution therein reflected.
1972, June 30, P.L. 508, No. 164, § 2, eff. July 1, 1972. Amended 1976, July 9, P.L. 551, No. 135, § 17, imd. effective; 1992, Dec. 16, P.L. 1163, No. 152, § 8, imd. effective.
This section is redrafted to restore some of the advantages of the one-year lien of debts, which applied under the 1917 act, and at the same time avoid many of the disadvantages thereof. The elimination of the one-year lien of debts in regard to the decedent's real property has caused difficulty in the passing of title in situations where the personal representative has given a deed in distribution and either has filed no account or has not included real property in his accounting. In such circumstances, future grantees of the real property have been concerned, because there is nothing of record to show whether or not the personal representative had received notice of an unpaid claim before the time of conveyance or within one year of the first complete advertisement of grant of letters.
To eliminate these difficulties and at the same time provide a rule which is not too difficult of application, Section 732 [20 Pa.C.S. § 3532] is divided into two subsections. Subsection (a) deals with the rights of claimants against the personal representative and is substantially the same as Section 732 [20 Pa.C.S. § 3532] as amended in 1951, except that it omits reference to the rights of claimants against distributed property. The new subsection (b) deals with the rights of claimants against distributed property and makes a distinction between personal property and real property. As to personal property, the rule is substantially the same as it existed under Section 732 [20 Pa.C.S. § 3532] as amended and is not changed because, as it relates to personal property, Section 732 [20 Pa.C.S. § 3532] has not been a problem. It seems inadvisable to cut off the rights of claimants as to personal property unless the personal representative has duly advertised the grant of letters. In the case of real property, the one-year period must date from a time which clearly appears of record; in addition, the steps to be taken by claimants to establish their positions must also be clearly of record. Since the right established by the notice of the claim will be cut off after five years, these rights will not continue indefinitely. On the other hand, there will be ample opportunity for claimants to protect their interests in real property by taking action within one year of the decedent's death and following it up by taking appropriate proceedings to compel an accounting within five years of the decedent's death. In regard to rights against real property, there would seem to be no violation of any constitutional guarantees, since the grant of letters is notice to claimants. The period of time and the rights of the parties are similar to those under the 1917 act.
The clerk with whom the claim is filed, under Section 102(1) of the Fiduciaries Act [20 Pa.C.S. § 102], is “the clerk of the orphans' court having jurisdiction,” which is, of course, the clerk in the county in which letters were granted.
New subsection (c) authorizes filing a record of informal administration in order to provide a ready record for interested parties. Also see Section 7183.
The amendments to subsections 3532(a) and (b) make the rights of known claimants of estates informally settled without Orphans' Court audit similar to those of claimants of audited estates.
New subsection (b.1) is designed to avoid, in the case of possible claimants who do not give timely notice of their claim as demanded, the need for an Orphans' Court accounting and the need to give such possible claimants notice of the filing of the account and its call for audit or confirmation.
The 1976 amendment added subsec. (c).
The 1992 amendment in subsec. (a) substituted “unless the claim of such claimant is known to the personal representative” for “who has not given notice of his claim as provided by this title”; in subsec. (b)(1) substituted “unless the claim of such claimant is known to the personal representative” for “has given notice of his claim to the personal representative as provided by this title”; and added subsec. (b.)(1).
Section 27(d) of 1992, Dec. 16, P.L. 1163, No. 152, provides in part that the amendment to this section applies to the estates of decedents dying on or after December 16, 1992.
1917, June 7, P.L. 447, § 49(b) (20 P.S. § 862).
1949, April 18, P.L. 512, art. VII, § 732 (20 P.S. § 320.732).
1951, Aug. 17, P.L. 1258, § 3.
1956, Feb. 23, P.L. (1956) 1084, § 5.

References: § 2
 § 17
 § 8
 § 3532
 § 3532
 § 3532
 § 3532
 § 102
 § 49
 § 862
 § 732
 § 320
 § 3
 § 5