S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
9783
I N S E N A T E
May 30, 2024
___________
Introduced by Sen. HOYLMAN-SIGAL -- (at request of the Office of Court
Administration) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to
be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the surrogate's court procedure act, in relation to
allowing certain methods for service of process
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 2 and 3 of section 307 of the surrogate's
court procedure act, as amended by chapter 355 of the laws of 2000, and
subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) and paragraph (e) of subdivision 3 as
amended by chapter 669 of the laws of 2022, are amended to read as
follows:
1. Service by personal delivery. Service of the process may be made on
any person by personal delivery [to him] of a copy of the process either
within or without the state.
2. Service by registered or certified mail, [return receipt
requested,] or by special mail service[, upon non-domiciliaries].
Service of the process may be made by registered or certified mail,
[return receipt requested,] or by special mail service, [upon non-domi-
ciliaries, whether or not they be natural persons] WITHIN OR WITHOUT THE
STATE.
3. Service by court order. As an alternative to service under subdivi-
sions 1 and 2, service may be made in the manner directed by the court;
but such service, except as provided by subdivision 6, shall not be
ordered upon a domiciliary natural person unless it be shown that, with
due diligence, service [by personal delivery within the state] UNDER
SUBDIVISION 1 OR 2 cannot be effected, or where for good cause shown,
[personal service within the state] SUCH SERVICE would be impracticable.
Any proof necessary hereunder may be submitted in the petition or by
affidavit. The court may take into account the size of the estate and
the remoteness of kinship of any person to be cited in determining the
appropriate due diligence necessary to permit alternate service under
this section. The court may direct service by any one or more of the
following methods, which shall not, however, be exclusive:
(a) service by publication, such as is provided by CPLR 316, subject
to 308 and 309, and to such variations of CPLR 316 as the court may
provide, except that
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09878-01-3
S. 9783 2
(i) where persons are to be served by publication, publication in only
1 newspaper shall be required, or
(ii) where a person is alleged to be within a country with which the
United States of America is at war or a place with which the United
States of America does not maintain postal communication, the court may
direct that a copy of the process shall be mailed on behalf of such
person to the officer who may have been appointed to take possession of
the property of noncitizen enemies, or
(iii) where the person to be served is an absentee or alleged to be
deceased, the court may direct that in addition to the foregoing
requirements, the process be published in a newspaper published at or
near the place where the absentee was last known to be, or
(iv) in an adoption proceeding under article seven of the domestic
relations law or in a proceeding under section three hundred eighty-
four-b of the social services law, a single publication in only one
newspaper shall be sufficient.
(b) service by [mail, by registered or certified mail with or without
return receipt requested, or by any manner of special mail service, as
the court may direct] ELECTRONIC MEANS, AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED BY CPLR
2103(F)(2), BEARING THE CAPTION OF THE MATTER IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF
SAID TRANSMISSION;
(c) substituted service such as is provided by CPLR 308 (2) and (4),
within or without the state, subject to 308 and 309, and to such vari-
ations of CPLR 308 as the court may provide;
(d) service within or without the state, by personal delivery to a
person duly designated by respondent to receive process in his OR HER
behalf, or to a person whose relationship, whatever its character, and
by blood or otherwise to the respondent, indicates in the circumstances
the probability that actual notice will reach the latter [through him];
(e) if the interest of a non-domiciliary noncitizen in the estate is
less than $2,500 or his or her address is unknown or such estate's gross
assets are less than $25,000, by delivery of a copy of the process to a
consular official of the noncitizen's nation.
§ 2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 308 of the surrogate's
court procedure act, as amended by chapter 685 of the laws of 1967, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The citation shall be served at least the following number of days
before the return day:
(i) 10 days if the person is served within the state BY PERSONAL
DELIVERY;
(ii) 20 days if the person is served [without the state but] within
the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico or the possessions or territories of the United States BY OTHER
THAN PERSONAL DELIVERY; and
(iii) 30 days in all other cases AND WHERE THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY
GENERAL IS A PARTY.
§ 3. Paragraphs (a), (e) and (f) of subdivision 2 of section 309 of
the surrogate's court procedure act, as amended by chapter 355 of the
laws of 2000, are amended to read as follows:
(a) mailing or by registered or certified mail, [with or without
return receipt requested,] upon the mailing thereof;
(e) publication, on the 28th day after the first publication; [or]
(f) ELECTRONIC MEANS, UPON TRANSMITTAL OF THE PROCESS TO THE RECIPI-
ENT; OR
(G) any other means, as the court directs.
§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
