New York Gov. Kathy Hochul recently signed a new law simplifying and modernizing service of process requirements for Surrogate’s Court proceedings.
Senate Bill 8175 abandons the historically strict requirement of personal service on New York domiciliaries, allowing for service of process by mail in Surrogate’s Court proceedings. Where service by mail cannot be completed after diligent efforts, the amendments also allow for service by e-mail by court order.
Specifically, the new law amends SCPA § 307 to allow for service by registered or certified mail on respondents located in New York state. Absent a court order to the contrary, current law requires personal service on all persons within New York state. The law is a by-product of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many Surrogate’s Courts throughout the state relaxed the SCPA § 307 requirements to allow for service by mail within the state. Courts found mail service to be just as effective and did not result in increased demands for traverse hearings or applications to vacate defaults.
The new law was unanimously supported by the Unified Court System, on the recommendation of the Chief Administrative Judge’s Surrogate’s Court Advisory Committee, the Surrogate’s Court Judges Association and the Surrogate’s Court Chief Clerk Association, and endorsed by the Trusts and Estate Section of the New York State Bar Association.
If you have questions or need assistance with a matter before Surrogate’s Court, our Trusts and Estates Practice Group can help. Please reach out to attorney Meaghan T. Feenan at (518) 701-2742 and mfeenan@harrisbeachmurtha.com, or the Harris Beach Murtha attorney with whom you most frequently work.
This alert is not a substitute for advice of counsel on specific legal issues.
Harris Beach Murtha’s lawyers and consultants practice from offices throughout Connecticut in Bantam, Hartford, New Haven and Stamford; New York state in Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Ithaca, New York City, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Saratoga Springs, Syracuse, Long Island and White Plains, as well as in Boston, Massachusetts, and Newark, New Jersey.
