Mandatory and Exclusive Jurisdiction

2002 Edition

PEF Code §711 sets forth those matters over which the Orphans' Court has mandatory and exclusive jurisdiction. These matters are:

1. Administration and distribution of decedents' estates, and control of the decedent's burial;

2. Administration and distribution of testamentary trusts;

3. Administration and distribution of inter vivos trusts;

4. Administration and distribution of minors' estates;

5. Custodianships of the property of minors;

6. Guardians of persons of minors;

7. Administration and distribution of incapacitated persons' estates;

8. Absentees' and presumed decedents' estates;

9. Appointment, control, and discharge of fiduciaries of estates and trusts (other than the appointment of the personal representative of a decedent's estate);

10. Specific performance of contracts made by a decedent to purchase or sell real property;

11. Proceedings for the enforcement of legacies, annuities, and charges placed on real or personal property by will, inter vivos trust, or Orphans' Court decree;

12. Interpretation of fiduciary administrative powers pertaining to real estate;

13. Disposition of title to real estate acquired by descent or will when the property is held in an estate or trust;

14. Adjudication of title to personal property held by a personal representative, or registered in the name of the decedent or the decedent's nominee, or alleged to have been in the decedent's possession at the time of death;

15. Appeals from and proceedings removed from the Register of Wills;

16. Marriage licenses;

17. Inheritance and estate taxes;

18. Nonprofit corporations; and

19. Matters pertaining to the powers of an agent under a power of attorney.

In Philadelphia, the Family Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas hears matters involving adoption, custody of minors, and birth records.

The Register of Wills has original jurisdiction of the probate of wills and the grant of letters to a personal representative. See PEF Code §901. The Orphans' Court has jurisdiction over appeals from a decree of the Register of Wills. See PEF Code §908. See also Pa. and Phila.O.C. Rule 10; PEPH, Blue Book.