Insolvent Probate Estate Claim-Payment Priority in Pennsylvania
At a glance
| Statutory payment order | § 3392 applies when applicable estate assets cannot pay all proper charges; numbered classes, subject to U.S. claim preference. |
|---|---|
| Administration costs | Class 1 costs of administration (§ 3392(1)). |
| Funeral and last illness | Class 3 funeral/burial and specified medicines, care and employee services within six months before death; gravemarker class 4 (§ 3392(3)–(4)). |
| Family and homestead allowances | Class 2 family exemption (§ 3392(2)). |
| Taxes and public claims | U.S. claims retain federal-law preference; Commonwealth and political-subdivision claims class 5.1 (§ 3392). |
| Secured claims | § 3392 orders proper claims against applicable assets but gives no separate collateral-proceeds class. |
| Support and special debts | Class 5 six months' predeath residence rent; class 3 specified employee services (§ 3392(3),(5)). |
| General claims | Class 6 all other claims (§ 3392(6)). |
| Underfunded class | No priority as between claims of the same class (§ 3392). |
Requirements one by one
Preferred recent expenses
Under § 3392(3), class 3 groups funeral and burial costs with medicines, medical or nursing care, hospital services, medical-assistance services, and employee services furnished within six months before death. A gravemarker is a separate class 4 expense. Class 5 covers rent for occupying the decedent's residence during the six months immediately before death.
Public claims and same-class treatment
Section 3392 reserves any legal preference for claims due the United States before listing its classes. Claims by the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions are class 5.1. The section says there is “without priority as between claims of the same class.”
What trips people up
The family exemption is class 2, ahead of funeral and recent care costs. Section 3392 refers to “applicable assets of the estate,” but its class list does not decide whether a particular lien is enforceable against collateral; that question requires the governing lien law.
Common questions
Are gravemarker charges in the funeral class? Section 3392(4) puts gravemarker costs in their own fourth class, after the class 3 expenses.
Where do claims not named in the earlier classes go? Section 3392(6) places all other claims in class 6.
Statutes and sources
- 20 Pa.C.S. § 3392. Verbatim current official text, URL, and access date appear in the source fields above.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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