Statutes, codes, and regulations
Pennsylvania Local Court Rules
Philadelphia Estate Practitioner HandbookPractice and Procedure Before the Register of Wills and the Orphans' Court Division
Chapter 1 - Jurisdiction of the Court
Status Before 1969 Constitutional Amendment

Phil. Est. Pract. Handbook, ch. 1, A

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2002 Edition
Status Before 1969 Constitutional Amendment

The 1874 Pennsylvania Constitution required every county with a population of over 150,000 to have a separate Orphans' Court. Other counties could establish a separate Orphans' Court at their discretion. In counties without a separate Orphans' Court, judges of the Court of Common Pleas heard Orphans' Court matters.

Phil. Est. Pract. Handbook, ch. 1, A