Letter to a bank or other holder in New York

A letter that presents the small estate affidavit you have already signed. It says what you enclose and asks the holder to release the property.

Required when you mail the letter.

It goes into the letter only. It is never saved or sent to us.

Papers you are enclosing

Check what you will include. Only checked items go in the letter.

It goes into the letter as you type it. You can add a ready-made sentence:

Other formats

Do not send original documents unless the holder asks; keep copies. Sign the letter and keep a copy.

Official forms (linked, not reproduced here)

This site does not write the affidavit. Use the official form or the holder's own form:

Before you send it

Some banks have their own form or ask for a notary. Call the bank's estates department first and ask what it needs. Keep a copy of everything you send.

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
  1. Check that you are the person with the right to act and that the personal property is $50,000 or less.
  2. Fill in the small estate affidavit and file it, with a certified death certificate, with the clerk of the Surrogate's Court.
  3. The clerk files it and mails a notice to the other heirs and beneficiaries.
  4. Get a short certificate from the clerk and give it to each bank or company holding the person's property.
  5. Put all money you collect into an estate bank account in New York in the estate's name.
  6. Pay the expenses, reasonable funeral costs and debts in the order the law sets, then give the rest to the people who inherit.
  7. 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.

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

Source: Official page

Bank accounts after a death in New York

A joint account set up to be paid to either owner or the survivor belongs to the surviving owner. An 'in trust for' (Totten trust) account goes to the named beneficiary. For an account in the person's name alone, a bank may pay up to $30,000 to the surviving spouse on an affidavit at any time, or up to $15,000 to a close relative on an affidavit after 30 days, but the bank does not have to. Otherwise the money is collected by a voluntary administrator (small estate) or an executor or administrator.

Law: N.Y. Banking Law 675; EPTL 7-5.2; SCPA 1304-1305, 1310

Source: Official page

Transfer-on-death (TOD) and payable-on-death (POD) in New York

Bank account (POD)

Yes

Law: N.Y. EPTL 7-5.1 to 7-5.8 (trust accounts); Banking Law 675

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

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.

Who inherits with no will in New York

If there is no will: a spouse and children share it, with the spouse getting $50,000 plus half of the rest and the children (or their descendants) getting the other half. A spouse with no children gets everything. Children with no spouse get everything. If there is no spouse or child, it goes to the parents, then to brothers and sisters (and their descendants), then to grandparents and their children and grandchildren.

Law: N.Y. EPTL sec. 4-1.1

Source: Official page

Good to know in New York

  • New York has no waiting period for the small estate affidavit; it can be filed right after the death (SCPA 1304(1)).
  • The small estate procedure cannot transfer real estate, but owning real estate does not prevent using it for personal property (SCPA 1302).
  • Since July 19, 2024, New York allows transfer on death deeds for real estate (Real Property Law 424).

Changes in 2024–2026

Real Property Law sec. 424 (transfer on death deeds) took effect July 19, 2024. DMV form MV-349.1 revised April 2025. No change to the $50,000 small estate limit (SCPA 1301) was found in the official statute text read October 2026; the limit was raised from $30,000 to $50,000 by L.2019, ch. 557 (signed November 25, 2019).

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.