Small Estates in New York: Voluntary administration (small estate)

New York small estate rules at a glance

Can you use it?

You can generally use the New York shortcut when all of these are true:

• The probate estate is $50,000 or less (personal property in the person's name alone).
• Timing: none set; file it with the Surrogate's Court.
• No one has been appointed, or applied to be appointed, executor or administrator.
• Real estate: no. A voluntary administrator can't sell or transfer real property.

Other New York rules

• File the original death certificate, and the original will if there is one.
• Someone with a lower priority can serve only if those ahead of them renounce on form SE-1C.

How the New York procedure works

1. Add up the probate estate. List what the person owned in their name alone, with no beneficiary or surviving joint owner, at its value on the date of death.
2. Check the timing. None set; file it with the Surrogate's Court.
3. Get the paperwork. Use SE-3A, Small Estate Affidavit.
4. Sign it under oath, usually before a notary, listing each person entitled to the property and their share.
5. File it. Small estate affidavit (SE-3A) filed with the county Surrogate's Court. Once the court accepts it, banks and other holders release the property.
6. Pay debts and distribute. Pay the funeral and valid debts, then distribute under the will or New York's intestacy law. If you take more than your share, the other heirs and creditors can come after you for it.

The person's final income tax return is still due by April 15 of the year after the death. See the final tax returns guide, and Form 1310 to claim a refund without an executor.

A car has its own paperwork at the DMV: see how to transfer a car title after death in New York (MV-349.1).

If the estate is over the limit

Then the estate goes through probate: the court appoints an executor, who gets letters testamentary (or letters of administration when there is no will) and settles the estate. New York's court and forms are in the probate forms by state table. In New York, creditors have this long to claim: no hard bar, but a fiduciary who pays out in good faith more than 7 months after letters are first issued isn't liable for claims presented later. See how long probate takes in New York.

Use the probate cost calculator to estimate the court, attorney and executor fees.

New York taxes on a small estate

New York has an estate tax, but its exemption is far above any small estate limit, so a small estate won't owe it. See New York estate tax.

Small estate affidavits in other states

Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · District of Columbia · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming

Or compare them all in the 50-state table.

Related guides

• Letters testamentary: how executors get them, by state
• What is probate? How it works, step by step
• How long does probate take? Timeline by state
• Probate cost calculator: fees by state
• Probate court forms by state
• Transfer a car title after death, by state
• Executor checklist: what to do when someone dies
• Form 1310: claiming a deceased person's tax refund