Title SCP, Surrogate's Court Procedure

§ 1001. Order of priority for granting letters of administration\n 1. Letters of administration must be granted to the persons who are\ndistributees of an intestate and who are eligible and qualify, in the\nfollowing order:\n (a) the surviving spouse,\n (b) the children,\n (c) th…

§ 1002. Petition; persons entitled to petition for appointment of an\n administrator\n 1. Any person interested in the estate of an intestate or of a person\nalleged to be deceased or any person to whose appointment as\nadministrator all distributees consent pursuant to 1001 or a…

§ 1003. Persons who must be served with process; waiver of process;\n dispensation with service of process\n 1. In a proceeding for letters of administration upon the estate of a\nperson alleged to be deceased process shall issue directed to such\nperson and to all his presumptiv…

§ 1004. Proceedings upon return of process; decree\n 1. Upon the return of process in a proceeding for letters of\nadministration upon the estate of a person alleged to be deceased the\ncourt must inquire into the facts and take proof thereof and if it\nappears that he is dead th…

§ 1005. Notice of application for letters of administration\n 1. Before making a decree granting letters of administration on any\napplication therefor the court may require the petitioner or any other\nperson seeking such letters to serve by mail a written notice of the\napplica…

§ 1006. Failure to qualify\n The court must upon application of any person interested, a public\nadministrator, the chief fiscal officer of the county, or creditor\nrequire an administrator designated by it to receive letters to qualify\nwithin a time specified and direct that in…

§ 1007. Administration de bonis non\n 1. When the office of administrator becomes vacant for any reason the\ncourt may grant letters of administration de bonis non to one or more\neligible persons and the proceedings to procure such letters shall be\nthe same as upon an applicati…

§ 101. Short title; how cited\n This act shall be known as the surrogate's court procedure act and may\nbe cited as "SCPA". A provision of this act may be cited by its number\nwithout being preceded either by the word "section" or the symbol "§".\nReference to an article or secti…

§ 102. Application of CPLR and other laws\n The CPLR and other laws applicable to practice and procedure apply in\nthe surrogate's court except where other procedure is provided by this\nact.\n

§ 103. Definitions\n When used in this act, unless otherwise required by the context, or\nunless a contrary intent is expressly declared in the provision to be\nconstrued, the words, phrases or clauses hereafter shall be construed as\nfollows:\n 1. Acknowledged. Acknowledged or p…

§ 104. Application of act; confirmation of previous acts\n Each provision of this act relating to the jurisdiction of the\nsurrogate's court over lifetime trusts or to take the proof of a will\nand to grant letters or appoint trustees or regulating the mode of\nprocedure in any m…

§ 105. Rules for surrogates' courts\n The court in each county may make such rules for the conduct of\nbusiness in its court as it may deem necessary, not inconsistent with\nstatute, and subject to the rules and orders of the administrative board\nand appellate division applicabl…

§ 106. Appendix of official forms\n The state administrator of the state of New York shall have the power\nto adopt, amend and rescind an appendix of forms. Forms adopted\npursuant to this section shall be sufficient under the surrogate's court\nprocedure act and shall be accepte…

§ 107. Use of electronic filing authorized\n 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the chief administrator\nof the courts may authorize a program in the use of electronic means in\nthe surrogate's court as provided in article twenty-one-A of the civil\npractice law and r…

§ 1101. Incumbents\n The office of public administrator within the counties of the city of\nNew York hereby is continued. The public administrators of the counties\nwithin the city of New York in office when this act takes effect shall\ncontinue in office until the end of their r…

§ 1102. Appointment and removal; terms of office\n Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, appointment and\nremoval shall be made as follows:\n 1. The public administrators of Kings, Richmond, New York, Bronx and\nQueens counties shall be appointed by and may be removed …

§ 1103. Deputy public administrator\n 1. The deputy public administrators of the counties of New York city\nshall be appointed by the surrogate court judge of the county in which\nthey shall serve.\n 2. The deputy public administrators of any county where the office\nexists or ma…

§ 1104. Oath and bond\n Each person appointed to the office of public administrator or deputy\npublic administrator in any of the counties within the city of New York\nbefore entering upon the duties of his office shall take and file the\nconstitutional oath of office and execute…

§ 1105. Compensation\n 1. The public administrators of the counties comprising the city of\nNew York shall receive at least two-thirds of the amount paid to the\njudges of the surrogate's court of the counties within the city of New\nYork.\n 2. Each of the deputy public administr…

§ 1106. Commissions\n 1. The public administrators of Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens and\nRichmond counties shall each retain over and above all necessary\nexpenses upon all moneys which shall come into their respective hands\nthe same commissions as are now or may hereafter be a…

§ 1107. Deposit of funds.\n 1. The public administrators shall pay into the treasury of the city\nof New York all commissions and costs received by them from any source.\nSuch payments shall be made monthly and shall be accompanied by a sworn\nstatement in the form prescribed by …

§ 1108. Staff; salaries; offices\n Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, appointment and\nremoval shall be made as follows:\n 1. Assistants and employees.\n (a) The public administrators of the counties of the city of New York\nare hereby vested with the power to appoi…

§ 1109. Monthly reports to court, mayor and comptroller; annual audit\n Each public administrator shall file monthly with the surrogate of the\ncounty where appointed, mayor and the comptroller of the city of New\nYork a statement of such of his accounts as have been closed or fi…

§ 1110. Responsibility of the city\n 1. The city of New York shall be answerable for the faithful\nexecution by the public administrator of all the duties of his office\nand for the application by him of all moneys and property received by\nhim and for all moneys and securities a…

§ 1111. Vacancy in office; delivery of money, papers and effects\n 1. Whenever a public administrator shall resign or be removed from\nhis office he shall immediately deliver over to his successor all\npapers, moneys and effects in his hands.\n 2. In case of the death of a public…

§ 1112. Authority to act\n The public administrator in his proper county shall have authority to\ntake possession of, manage and collect the rents of the real property\nand take charge of the personal property of an intestate:\n 1. Whenever any person not known to have left him s…

§ 1113. Reports of deaths and burials\n 1. Every person keeping a hotel, boarding or rooming house in any of\nthe counties to which this article applies shall report in writing to\nthe public administrator of his county information concerning every\nperson not a member of his fam…

§ 1114. Inquiry and subpoena\n 1. The public administrator may institute an inquiry in any case in\nwhich he is authorized to act as to any matter affecting the estate of\nthe decedent.\n 2. For that purpose he may issue a subpoena or subpoena duces tecum\neither before or after …

§ 1115. Letters not required for small estates\n 1. Without the issuance of letters the public administrator by virtue\nof his office shall have all the powers of a fiduciary of a decedent's\nestate whenever the gross assets of the estate do not exceed the\nmonetary amount define…

§ 1116. Application for letters; when court may direct probate\n 1. The public administrator is authorized to apply for and receive\nletters as defined in this act.\n 2. The court may direct the public administration to present a\npetition for probate of a will at any time after …

§ 1117. No separate bond or oath\n The public administrators within the counties of the city of New York\nshall not be required to file the designation, separate bond or oath\nrequired by 708 before the issuance of letters to him.\n

§ 1118. Powers before issuance of letters\n Before letters are issued to him and subject to the provisions of\nsection 1128 of this article the public administrator is authorized to:\n 1. Take possession of, collect and secure the personal property within\nhis county of any perso…

§ 1119. Notice to consuls\n When the estate is that of a noncitizen it shall be the duty of the\npublic administrator when making application for letters to mail a\nnotice to the consular representative of the nation of which the\ndecedent was a citizen or subject if any there be…

§ 1120. Appearance by consuls\n 1. In any action or proceeding brought by or against a public\nadministrator in which a non-domiciliary noncitizen is a necessary or\nproper party the consular representative of the country of which the\nnoncitizen is a citizen or subject may appea…

§ 1121. Grant of letters to others\n If any eligible distributee of the decedent shall petition to\nsupersede the public administrator within 4 months after the public\nadministrator has become vested with the powers of a fiduciary on the\nestate letters shall be granted to him u…

§ 1122. Delivery of estate assets to fiduciary; expenses, costs and\n commissions\n When the public administrator has been superseded he shall account and\ndeliver to the fiduciary superseding him all the personal property\nbelonging to the estate which he has in his possession o…

§ 1123. General powers of public administrator.\n 1. Every public administrator shall have all the powers specifically\ngranted herein and also the powers given by law to a fiduciary of a\ndecedent's estate.\n 2. In addition to the foregoing grant of powers and without limitation…

§ 1124. Appeal; bond\n 1. The public administrator is authorized to appeal from any order,\ndecree or judgment affecting an estate in his charge or in which he is a\nparty.\n 2. On such an appeal no bond on his part shall be required to stay\nexecution of the order, decree or jud…

§ 1125. Notification to corporation counsel\n 1. In any proceeding under 1123, subdivision 2, subparagraph (j)\n(iii) service upon the public administrator having jurisdiction shall be\nsufficient and service upon any officer of the city of New York shall\nnot be required.\n 2. I…

§ 1126. Property without value where no administration had.\n Whenever the public administrator shall receive papers or property of\na decedent upon whose estate no letters have been issued or whose\nproperty is not sufficient to require administration under 1116, the\npublic adm…

§ 1127. Disposition of records after 10 years\n The public administrator is authorized to destroy the file and all of\nthe papers relating to a decedent after the lapse of 10 years from the\ncompletion of the administration of his estate. The public\nadministrator and the city of…

§ 1128. Administrative board for the offices of the public\n administrators\n 1. An administrative board for the offices of the public\nadministrators of the state of New York is hereby created. The board\nshall consist of thirteen members of whom five shall be surrogate court\nj…

§ 1201. Definitions\n Whenever used in this article the term public administrator, unless\notherwise required by the context or unless a contrary intent is\nexpressly declared, shall mean the public administrators of the counties\nof Erie, Monroe, Nassau, Onondaga, Suffolk and We…

§ 1202. Office established; appointment of successor\n The office of public administrator hereby is continued. The public\nadministrator shall continue in office unless removed by the court.\nVacancy in such office for any reason shall be filled by the court of\nthe county by app…

§ 1203. General bond\n Except in the counties of Erie, Monroe and Onondaga the person so\nappointed shall execute a bond with sureties to be approved by the court\nto the county in a penal sum to be fixed by the board of supervisors on\nrecommendation of the court and conditioned…

§ 1204. Separate bonds\n Except in the counties of Erie and Onondaga the public administrator\nupon entering upon his duties in every estate the gross assets of which\nexceed the monetary amount defined as a small estate pursuant to\nsubdivision 1 of section 1301 of this act, sha…

§ 1205. Vacancy in office; delivery of money, papers and effects;\n discharge\n 1. Whenever the public administrator shall resign or be removed, he\nshall immediately deliver over to his successor all papers, moneys and\neffects in his hands.\n 2. In case of the death of a public…

§ 1206. Staff; offices; counsel\n 1. Each public administrator, except in the counties of Erie and\nOnondaga, shall appoint such assistants and employees at such\ncompensation as may be provided by the board of supervisors of his\ncounty.\n 2. Each such county except Erie, Monroe…

§ 1207. Salary; commissions; retention of commissions\n 1. Except as herein provided the public administrator shall receive\nan annual salary to be fixed by the board of supervisors of his county\nfor the administration of all estates.\n 2. The public administrator of the countie…

§ 1208. Deposit of funds; report to court; annual audit\n 1. All moneys collected shall be deposited by the public administrator\nin a state or national bank, savings bank, savings and loan association\nor trust company and shall, in case of the insolvency or voluntary or\ninvolu…