In re Costigan, Register of Wills

C. KLEIN, Admin. J.,

The Secretary of Revenue of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania contends that he is entitled, as a matter of law, to nominate his agent to apply for and receive letters of administration when residents of Pennsylvania die allegedly intestate and without heirs.

Robert W. Costigan, the respondent, who was Register of Wills of Philadelphia County from January 1972 to January 5, 1976, has challenged the secretary’s interpretation of the law. He has consistently refused to appoint the secretary’s nominees unless the Commonwealth could affirmatively establish that it was the…