Registers of Wills and Clerks of Orphans' Court Association of Pennsylvania

08/25/2026

President Tammy Crawford, Lawrence County Register of Wills, announces the following committee appointments for 2026-2027.

Solicitor
Alex Snyder, Esq.

Parliamentarian/Sergeant at Arms
Jean Marfizo-King Dauphin

Elder Justice Advisory Council
Sarah Edwards Appointed by Justice Todd Butler

GTS Governance
Kelsey Dunn Appointed by Judge Ott Huntingdon
Sarah Edwards Appointed by Judge Ott Butler
Ralph Marino Appointed by Judge Ott Lackawanna staff

Audit
Wendy Welfley Chair Perry
Joy Heinbaugh Franklin
Cori Sharpe Venango

Bylaws
Ellen Amspacker Chair Mifflin
Karen Heflin Adams
Rebekah Weckerly Clarion
Wendy Welfley Perry
Nicole Larsen Potter
Jeff Redman Fayette
Sheila Johnson Bradford

Finance
Jean Marfizo King Chair Dauphin
Fran Kovaleski Lackawanna
Maria Jack Indiana
Tammy Crawford Lawrence
Stacey Zerbe Snyder
Wendy Welfley Perry
Christine Millinder Centre
Dennis Montross Wyoming
Tina Lawson Montgomery

Legislative
Bryan Tate Chair York
Sharon Ackerman PSAECO Chair Somerset
Ellen Amspacker Mifflin
Kate Best Monroe
Tammy Crawford Lawrence
Maria Jack Indiana
Tina Lawson Montgomery
Jean Papay Carbon
Tracey Antoline-Patton Beaver
Theresa Santai-Gaffney Schuylkill
Wendy Welfley Perry

Nominating
Brian Craig Chair Lebanon
Sharon Ackerman Somerset
Stacey Zerbe Snyder
Jennifer Hoy Clinton
President Ex-Officio
1st VP Ex-Officio
2nd VP Ex-Officio
3rd VP Ex-Officio

Resolutions
Anne Cooper Chair Lancaster
Maria Jack Indiana
Rebekah Weckerly Clarion



PSAECO
Sharon Ackerman Chair, Delegate Somerset
Kate Best Delegate Monroe
Bryan Tate Delegate York
Tammy Crawford Alternate Delegate Lawrence
Jean Papay Alternate Delegate Carbon

Orientation & Education
Kelsey Dunn Chair Huntingdon
Anne Cooper Lancaster
Jean Marfizo King Dauphin
Christine Millinder Centre
Jean Papay Carbon
Marlo Urey Crawford
Wendy Zapolski Susquehanna
Rebekah Weckerly Clarion

Technology / Website
Sharon Ackerman Somerset
Robin Patton Blair
Kelsey Dunn Huntingdon

County Records Manual / State Archives - PHMC
Bryan Tate Register of Wills York
Jean Marfizo-King Clerk of Orphans’ Court Dauphin

Orphans' Court Forms - Adoption Forms, Marriage License Forms, Voter Registration, etc.
Ann Cooper Chair Lancaster
Brian Craig Lebanon
Sarah Edwards Butler
Jean Marfizo-King Dauphin
Tracey Antoline-Patton Beaver
Bryan Tate York

Ways & Means
Brianna Bullers Chair Jefferson
Debbie Bates Wayne
Maria Jack Indiana
Nicole Larsen Potter
Marlo Urey Crawford
Rebekah Weckerly Clarion

Conference Host Advisement Committee
Tracey Antoline-Patton Co-Chair Beaver
Sarah Edwards Co-Chair Butler
Bryan Tate York
Tammy Crawford Perry
Maria Jack Indiana
Sharon Ackerman Somerset
Jean Papay Carbon

Ad Hoc Committee – Electronic Wills
Bryan Tate Chair York
Anne Cooper Lancaster
Tammy Crawford Lawrence
Lisa Grayson Cumberland
Jean Marfizo-King Dauphin
Tina Lawson Montgomery
Paula Radick, Esq. Luzerne
Vincent Rongione Delaware
Michele Vaughn Chester
Alex Snyder Solicitor

Send a message to learn more

08/17/2026

The Registers of Wills and Clerks of Orphans' Court Association of Pennsylvania is delighted to announce the leadership team for 2026-2027.
Tammy Crawford President Lawrence County
Jean Papay 1st VP Carbon County
Sheila Johnson 2nd VP Bradford County
Kelsey Dunn 3rd VP Huntingdon County
Cindy Adams Secretary Wyoming County
Maria Jack Treasurer Indiana County
Jeff Redman Fayette County
Tina Lawson Montgomery County
Ellen Amspacker Mifflin County
Brian Craig Lebanon County
Bryan Tate York County

08/17/2026

Why National Make-A-Will Month Matters
• Low participation: Roughly two-thirds of American adults do not have a valid will.
• State intervention: Without a will, state laws decide how your property and assets are distributed.
• Guardianship: A will is the primary legal tool to name a guardian for minor children.
• Reduced conflict: Clear instructions minimize potential disputes among grieving family members.

Do you have a will?

07/21/2026

The 98th Annual Conference of the Registers of Wills and Clerks of Orphans' Court Association of Pennsylvania took place from July 13 to July 17, 2026, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The Honorable Jean Marfizo King, Dauphin County Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court, and the Honorable Frances Roland Kovaleski, Lackawanna County Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court, served as hostesses for the event. Along with their respective teams, they welcomed Registers and Clerks from across Pennsylvania. The annual educational conference provided a valuable opportunity for Registers and Clerks to come together to share best practices, network, and obtain essential information that enables them to provide excellent services to the communities they serve. Thank you to all for your dedication, and congratulations on a job well done!

We extend a heartfelt thank you to the Honorable Bryan Tate, the York County Register and Clerk, and the Executive Committee for their leadership from 2025 to 2026. Best wishes to the Honorable Tammy Crawford, the Lawrence County Register of Wills, and the newly elected Executive Committee!

07/06/2026

Congrats on your retirement, Lee!

Commissioners Lecker and Quesenberry presented outgoing Register of Wills, Recorder of Deeds, and Clerk of the Orphans Court, Lee Neureiter with a citation in recognition of his lengthy tenure and dedication to the citizens of Elk County. Enjoy your retirement Lee!

03/02/2026

A decades-old state law that gave any Pennsylvanian's estate without family or a will, entirely to the Commonwealth has now been updated.

02/13/2026

When people die, what they choose to do with their assets tells a significant part of their story. Whether they leave their house to their children, a monetary donation to

01/22/2026

NEWS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PENNSYLVANIA LAW ENDS 100% TAX ON ESTATES OF RESIDENTS WHO DIE WITHOUT FAMILY OR A WILL

HARRISBURG, PA — A change to Pennsylvania law taking effect on January 23, 2026, will end a decades-old practice that directed the estates of Pennsylvanians who die without family or a will entirely to the state.

Act 50 of 2025 updates Pennsylvania’s Intestate Succession law to ensure that when no heirs can be identified, a decedent’s estate is placed into an endowed community fund at the community foundation serving the county where the individual lived. These endowed funds provide permanent, charitable support to local nonprofits and community needs.

The law is the result of a collaborative initiative led by the Registers of Wills & Clerks of Orphans’ Court Association of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Community Foundations Association, and passed with unanimous, bipartisan support in the General Assembly. Governor Josh Shapiro signed Act 50 into law on November 24, 2025.

“For too long, Pennsylvania effectively imposed a 100% tax on residents who died without family or a will,” said Bryan Tate, York County Register of Wills & Clerk of Orphans’ Court and President of the Registers of Wills & Clerks of Orphans’ Court Association of Pennsylvania. “Act 50 ensures that a person’s life savings can now be remembered and celebrated by benefiting the community they called home—forever.”

Prior to Act 50, Title 20, Section 2103 of the Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries Code required that when no family survived a decedent, the estate passed directly to the Commonwealth to be used in the state’s annual budget. Act 50 amends the law to add endowed community funds as the final successor before assets would pass to the Commonwealth.

“This is a truly historic moment,” said Ralph Serpe, President and CEO of the Adams County Community Foundation and a leader of the Pennsylvania Community Foundation Association’s PA Intestate Legislation Action Team. “Pennsylvania is now the only state in the nation to ensure that intestate assets are kept local, endowed, and charitable through community foundations.”

Under the updated law, if a Pennsylvanian dies without a will or their will cannot be located, assets pass in the following order:
1. Decedent’s children
2. Decedent’s parents
3. Decedent’s siblings and their children
4. Decedent’s grandparents
5. Decedent’s aunts, uncles, and their children, and grandchildren
6. An endowed community fund at the community foundation serving the decedent’s county
7. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, if no endowed community fund exists

According to the Pennsylvania Community Foundations Association, every county in Pennsylvania is served by a community foundation with an endowed community fund or by a regional foundation that provides county-specific endowed funds.

“This reform ensures that dollars once lost to the state budget will now support local nonprofits and community services,” said Judge Torren Ecker, former state representative and sponsor of the original legislation modernizing intestate succession. “Those assets will remain in the communities where these individuals lived.”

Act 50 was enacted as part of House Bill 1176, which combined three legislative proposals related to the Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries Code. The bill passed unanimously in both the House and Senate before being signed into law.

The updated Intestate Succession provisions take effect January 23, 2026.

For more information about Act 50 of 2025, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s official website.

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Bryan Tate is York County Register of Wills & Clerk of Orphans’ Court and President of the Registers of Wills & Clerks of Orphans’ Court Association of Pennsylvania (RWOCAP). RWOCAP was formed in 1927 to promote greater efficiency in the administration of Pennsylvania’s county offices. RWOCAP works together on legislation to benefit the welfare of officials and the citizens of Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth. www.rwocap.org

Ralph Serpe is President & CEO of Adams County Community Foundation and led the PA Intestate Legislation Action Team for the Pennsylvania Community Foundation Association (PACFA). PACFA was formed to help PA community foundation members connect with each other, learn from each other and, when possible, act together. www.pacfapartners.org

01/05/2026

Honored to represent our Association and be a guest on the Gary Sutton Show on WOYK this morning to talk about change to PA’s Intestate Succession law and how a community foundation will now endow the estate of someone in PA who dies without family or a will and impact the local community’s needs forever! Thanks Gary!

11/21/2025

Honored to present with my colleagues Tina Lawson and Lisa Grayson at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute about our Association and our work Proud President moment! (The Wanamaker Building is a beautiful venue, but I miss the historic department store!)