BILL NUMBER:S6641               REVISED 05/21/12

TITLE OF BILL:
An  act  to  amend the surrogate's court procedure act, in relation to
clarifying that all property required to be set off shall be  included
in the value of a small estate

PURPOSE OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to clarify that all of the items to be set
off for the benefit of the family under Estates Powers and Trusts Laws
(the  "EPTL") section 5-3. I are also included in the calculation of a
small estate pursuant to Surrogate's Court Procedure  Act  (the  SCPA)
section 1301.1.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF BILL:
This  bill removes the references to subparagraphs "(1), (2), (3), (4)
and (5)" of  EPTL  5-3.1(a)  and  just  refers  to  EPTL  5-3.1(a)  to
determine  assets to be included along with personal property having a
value of $30,000 or less, in defining the contents of a small estate.

JUSTIFICATION:
Section 5-3.1 of the EPTL provides that, when a person dies leaving  a
surviving  spouse  or children under 21, certain property belonging to
such decedent must be exempted from his  or  her  estate  assets  and,
instead,  vest  in and be set off to the surviving spouse or, if there
be none, to his or her children under 21.
              

This statute was recently updated and modernized for  the  first  time
since  1992.  L.  2010,e.  437.  Chapter  437 amended section 5-3.1 by
expanding some of the articles of personal property, to  be  exempted,
deleting   some  of  the  items  that  were  previously  exempted  and
increasing the value of all of the items referenced therein. EPTL 53.1
is referred to in the calculation of a small estate, as defined in the
SCPA. Section 1301.1 of  the  SCPA  defines  a  small  estate  as  one
containing  property  with  a value of $30,000 or less, in addition to
such property required to be set off under EPTL 5-3.1  (a)  (1),  (2),
(3), (4) and (5).

Unfortunately,  cross-references  in  the  SCPA  to  certain  specific
subparagraphs in EPTL Section 5-3.1  were  inadvertently  omitted  and
therefore  the  SCPA  was  not  updated  to correspond to the expanded
version of EPTL 53.1 (L. 2010,c. 437). As a result  the  subparagraphs
referenced   in   the  relevant  portion  of  the  SCPA  only  include
subparagraphs one through five,  whereas  there  are  currently  eight
different  subparagraphs under current law that pertain to calculating
and documenting items to be included in the exemption for the  benefit
of the family.

By  removing  the references in the SCPA to specific subparagraphs one
through five  of  EPTL  5-3.1(a)  and  simply  cross-referencing  EPTL
section 5-3.1(a) instead, it will be made clear that all of the assets
to  be  set off for the benefit of the family are also included in the
compilation of assets excluded from a small estate.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.


FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This  act  shall  take  effect immediately and shall be deemed to have
been in full force and effect on and after January 1, 2011.