NY Executor Guide

New York Probate Process: How to Probate a Will, Step by Step

New York probate is mostly a sequence of filings, notices and dates. What makes New York different is that most of those dates run from the day letters issue, not from the date of death.

Short answer: find the will and choose the track — voluntary administration (personal property $50,000 or less), probate (a will) or administration (no will). File with the Surrogate’s Court in the county where the decedent lived and get letters. From the date letters issue, the creditor period and the earliest required distribution run 7 months and a spouse’s right of election 6 months; the estate tax return, if needed, is due 9 months after death. Then collect, pay, account and distribute.

What is probate in New York?

Probate is the proceeding that proves a will and appoints the executor. In New York it happens in the Surrogate’s Court of the county where the decedent was domiciled; the judge is called the Surrogate. In New York City, each borough is its own county with its own Surrogate’s Court: New York County (Manhattan), Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, Bronx and Richmond (Staten Island). The law is in the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act (SCPA) and the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL). When there is no will, the matching proceeding is administration. For personal property of $50,000 or less, it is voluntary administration.

Step 1: Find the will and choose the track

Track	When it applies	More
Voluntary administration	Personal property $50,000 or less (excluding the family set-off); $1 fee, no bond	NY small estates
Probate	There is a will	Letters testamentary
Administration	There is no will	NY intestacy

Step 2: File with the Surrogate’s Court and get letters

The executor files the original will, a certified death certificate and the probate petition in the county of domicile. Distributees sign waivers and consents or are served a citation. In administration, the petition also includes the paid funeral bill, and the administrator generally files a bond. The filing fee runs from $45 to $1,250 by estate size (SCPA 2402); each certificate of letters costs $6.

Step 3: Put both clocks on the calendar

Clock	Deadline	What it is
Letters + 4 months	Renounce a will-set fee	To take statutory commissions instead (SCPA 2307)
Letters + 6 months	Spouse’s right of election	And never later than 2 years after death (EPTL 5-1.1-A)
Letters + 7 months	Creditor period	Protects good-faith payments made before a late claim (SCPA 1802)
Letters + 7 months	Earliest required distribution	Beneficiaries cannot demand payment before this (EPTL 11-1.5). If a court-ordered notice to creditors is published, it runs from completion of publication instead
Death + 9 months	NY estate tax return and payment	Only if the estate is above the exclusion — see NY estate tax

The New York deadline calculator puts every one of these on a timeline from the date of death and the letters date.

Step 4: Collect the assets and set aside the family exemption

Open an estate account, gather what the decedent owned, and value it. Before anything is distributed, EPTL 5-3.1 sets off property to a surviving spouse (or children under 21) that is “not assets of the estate”: household items up to $20,000, one vehicle up to $25,000, up to $25,000 of money and a few other items.

If there is real property, a fiduciary can generally sell it at public or private sale without a court order unless the will or the appointment limits that power, or the property is specifically left to someone (EPTL 11-1.1). An administrator selling real property files a further bond for the proceeds (SCPA 805). The state real estate transfer tax is $2 per $500 of consideration, paid by the seller.

Step 5: Handle creditor claims

A creditor’s claim must be in writing, state the facts and the amount, and be delivered to the fiduciary personally or by certified mail. The fiduciary can allow it, reject it with reasons, or ask for an affidavit that it is justly due; a claim not allowed within 90 days of presentation is treated as rejected (SCPA 1803, 1806). If the estate cannot pay everything, SCPA 1811 sets the order: administration expenses, reasonable funeral expenses, preferred debts, pre-death property taxes, judgments, then everything else.

Step 6: File the tax returns

The decedent’s final returns — federal Form 1040 and New York IT-201, due on the same date as if the person had lived.
The estate’s income tax returns — federal Form 1041 and New York IT-205 where required.
New York estate tax (ET-706) — only where the federal gross estate plus includible gifts is above the basic exclusion amount ($7,350,000 for 2026 deaths). There is no New York inheritance tax.

Step 7: Account, take commissions and distribute

The Surrogate’s Court can order a fiduciary to account at any time (SCPA 2205), so a clean ledger of every dollar in and out is the executor’s protection. Statutory commissions are allowed when the account is settled — see NY executor fees for the SCPA 2307 schedule. Distribution follows the will, or EPTL 4-1.1 where there is none.

When do people typically bring in a New York attorney?

Common points are objections to the will, a surviving spouse’s right of election, an estate that may owe more than it has, a pending or possible lawsuit (including wrongful death), a beneficiary dispute, a minor or incapacitated beneficiary, out-of-state property, a business interest, or an estate near the estate tax exclusion.

Stay on every step (and every dollar)

The NY Executor Compliance Kit maps the whole New York process — both clocks, the Surrogate’s Court steps, the creditor rules and the accounting record the court can ask for.

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More New York guides: the probate process step by step · letters testamentary · small estates · how long probate takes · executor fees · intestacy · estate tax · deadline calculator

Frequently asked questions

What is probate in New York?

Probate is the Surrogate’s Court proceeding that proves a will and appoints the executor by issuing letters testamentary. Without a will, the matching proceeding is administration; for personal property of $50,000 or less, it is voluntary administration. The rules are in the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act (SCPA) and the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL).

Is probate required in New York State?

Generally, property the decedent owned alone, with no named beneficiary, needs a Surrogate’s Court proceeding so that someone has authority to collect and transfer it. Property with a named beneficiary or a surviving joint owner usually passes outside probate. Where the personal property is $50,000 or less, voluntary administration is a shorter route; it does not reach New York real property.

What court handles probate in New York?

The Surrogate’s Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled at death (SCPA 205). The judge is called the Surrogate.

When can beneficiaries be paid in New York?

An executor may distribute earlier, but cannot be required to pay a beneficiary until 7 months after letters are granted (or until any court-ordered publication to creditors is complete), and must keep enough back for expenses, debts and taxes (EPTL 11-1.5).

How long do creditors have to file a claim in New York?

The key date is 7 months from when letters were first issued. It is a protection rather than an absolute bar: a claim presented later cannot make the executor personally chargeable for payments already made in good faith (SCPA 1802). A claim the executor does not allow within 90 days of presentation is treated as rejected (SCPA 1806).

Does New York have an inheritance tax?

No. New York taxes the estate, not the heirs. Its estate tax applies only when the estate is above the basic exclusion amount — $7,350,000 for deaths in 2026.

What order are debts paid in if the estate can't cover them all?

Administration expenses, then reasonable funeral expenses, then debts with a preference under US and New York law, then pre-death property taxes, then judgments by priority, then everything else (SCPA 1811). Within a class, no debt is preferred over another.

Does the executor have to file tax returns?

The executor files the decedent’s final federal return and New York IT-201, due on the same date as if the person had lived. The estate itself may need a federal Form 1041 and a New York IT-205, and a New York estate tax return (ET-706) is due 9 months after death if the estate is above the exclusion.

Sources. Written from the primary sources, not from secondary summaries — each read directly on the official page in September 2026: SCPA § 205 · § 1802 · § 1803 · § 1806 · § 1811 · § 2205 · EPTL § 11-1.5 · EPTL § 11-1.1 · EPTL § 5-3.1 · NYC Surrogate’s Courts · NYS estate tax · IRS — final returns.

General information, not advice. ExecutorPilot is an educational resource — not a law firm — and this page does not tell you what to do in a particular estate. Confirm with the Surrogate’s Court in the decedent’s county, the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, or a licensed New York attorney before filing, paying or distributing.