New York Estate Checklist | Small Estate Map

Which procedure

Your name (optional)

Papers most holders ask for Certified copies of the death certificate Your photo ID The will, if there is one Recent statements for each account, car and property

Papers for this procedure: Small estate (voluntary administration): Affidavit in Relation to Settlement of Estate under Article 13 of the SCPA Certified copy of the death certificate The original will, if there is one (it is filed with the Surrogate's Court) List of the person's personal property and its value, and of the people who inherit

Other formats

Your checklist

Small estate (voluntary administration): Affidavit in Relation to Settlement of Estate under Article 13 of the SCPA

One person files a short sworn affidavit with the Surrogate's Court and becomes the 'voluntary administrator'. The court gives a short certificate that lets that person collect the person's money and belongings, pay the bills and give the rest to the people who inherit. No judge's order or hearing is needed.

Limit

Up to $50,000 Counted at full value, without subtracting debts.

The person's personal property can have a gross value of $50,000 or less, not counting the family exemption items set aside for a surviving spouse or children under 21.

What counts

The gross value of the person's personal property (money, accounts, cars, belongings), not counting the items set aside for a surviving spouse or children under 21 under EPTL 5-3.1(a). Real estate is not counted. Debts are not subtracted.

Waiting period

There is no waiting period. The affidavit can be filed any time after the death.

Who can use it

In order of priority. With no will: the surviving adult spouse; then (if none, or the spouse renounces) an adult child or grandchild, parent, brother or sister, niece or nephew, or aunt or uncle; then a guardian, committee or conservator of a distributee; then the county's chief fiscal officer (or public administrator). With a will: the named executor or alternate executor, after filing the will with the Surrogate's Court; if they renounce or do not file within 30 days after the will is filed, a person who could ask for letters of administration with the will annexed. Only one of these people can serve.

Court or where to file

Surrogate's Court of the county where the person lived. If the person did not live in New York, the county where the personal property is.

Notary

It is a sworn affidavit on the official form. Making a false affidavit is perjury.

Papers to attach

Certified copy of the death certificate
The original will, if there is one (it is filed with the Surrogate's Court)
List of the person's personal property and its value, and of the people who inherit

Steps

Check that you are the person with the right to act and that the personal property is $50,000 or less.
Fill in the small estate affidavit and file it, with a certified death certificate, with the clerk of the Surrogate's Court.
The clerk files it and mails a notice to the other heirs and beneficiaries.
Get a short certificate from the clerk and give it to each bank or company holding the person's property.
Put all money you collect into an estate bank account in New York in the estate's name.
Pay the expenses, reasonable funeral costs and debts in the order the law sets, then give the rest to the people who inherit.
File a statement with the court listing everything collected and paid, with receipts or cancelled checks.

Fee

The statute sets a $1 fee for filing the affidavit (SCPA 1304(4)). There is no fee for filing the final account statement (SCPA 1307(2)). Certified copies and certificates may cost extra; ask the clerk.

Debts and responsibility

The voluntary administrator must answer to creditors, heirs, beneficiaries and any executor or administrator appointed later, the same way any estate fiduciary does. Anyone who knowingly makes a false affidavit to get the property can be prosecuted for perjury. The voluntary administrator is not paid for this work.

What the bank or holder must do

When the voluntary administrator gives the court's short certificate and a receipt (and surrenders any ownership document, such as a passbook), the bank or other holder is fully released for what it pays or delivers. If the holder refuses, the voluntary administrator may sue to recover the property, as long as the claim plus the rest of the estate is within the $50,000 limit; a certified copy of the affidavit is proof of the facts in it.

Forms

Small estate (voluntary administration) forms, NY Unified Court System Surrogate's Court forms

Law: N.Y. Surr. Ct. Proc. Act secs. 1301-1312

Source: Official page

Death certificates in New York

The spouse, parent, child or sibling can order a certified copy; others must show a documented lawful right or claim, a medical need, or a court order. You must send a copy of photo ID (or two proofs of name and address). The state charges $30 per copy by mail, or $45 per copy plus a vendor fee online or by phone. Call center: (855) 322-1022.

Where to get it: New York State Department of Health, Vital Records (for deaths outside New York City); NYC Health Department for deaths in the five boroughs; or the local registrar where the death happened
Official page: Official page

Car or vehicle title after a death in New York

A surviving spouse, or the guardian of children under 21, can take one of the person's vehicles worth $25,000 or less. To transfer it to someone else, the spouse or guardian signs the Affidavit for Transfer of Motor Vehicle before a notary or commissioner of deeds and gives the new owner a copy of the death certificate. If the vehicle is worth more than $25,000, the spouse or children may still take it by paying the estate the amount over $25,000. If there is no surviving spouse and no child under 21, no will to be probated and no executor or administrator, next of kin can transfer one vehicle worth $25,000 or less with form MV-349 (sworn before a notary or commissioner of deeds), the title and a copy of the death certificate; MV-349 cannot be used if the person owned more than one vehicle. In other cases the executor, administrator or voluntary administrator signs the title and gives the DMV a copy of the letters or the voluntary administrator's affidavit. A title from another state must be transferred by an executor or administrator. The DMV checklist MV-843 lists everything to bring.

Law: MV-349.1; N.Y. EPTL 5-3.1(a)(5); DMV forms MV-349.1, MV-349, MV-843

Agency: New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
Form: MV-349.1 Affidavit for Transfer of Motor Vehicle (4/25); MV-349 Transfer of Vehicle Registered in Name of Deceased Person (8/21); checklist MV-843 (10/25)
Value limit: Up to $25,000
Fee: DMV title fees apply; ask the DMV.

Source: Official page

Surviving spouse in New York

A surviving spouse (or, if none, children under 21) is entitled to certain property set aside from the estate: household items up to $20,000, family books and pictures up to $2,500, farm animals and machinery up to $20,000, one car up to $25,000, and money up to $25,000 (reduced by any excess value of items taken). These items are not counted toward the $50,000 small estate limit. The spouse has first right to act as voluntary administrator when there is no will, and may collect up to $30,000 of money owed to the person on an affidavit without administration.

Related pages

Free help in New York

A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.