Senate Bill S7254

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S7254

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the surrogate's court procedure act,
in relation to the service of process upon limited liability
corporations and limited liability partnerships

This is one in a series of measures being introduced at the request of
the Chief Administrative Judge upon the recommendation of his
Surrogate's Court Advisory Committee.

SCPA 307(5) provides for service of process upon "persons other than
natural persons," among others, in proceedings filed in Surrogate's
Court. Currently, this subdivision directs that, unless the SCPA
provides otherwise or the court in a particular proceeding otherwise
directs, service of process on a person other than a natural person
shall be made in accordance with CPLR 307 (personal service upon the
state), 310 (personal service upon a partnership), 311 (personal
service upon a corporation or governmental subdivision), and 312
(personal service upon a court, board or commission).

In 1999, the Legislature amended the CPLR to add CPLR 310-a and 311-a
to provide for personal service upon a limited partnership (including
a limited liability partnership) and upon limited liability companies,
respectively. However, at that time, the Legislature did not amend
SCPA 307 to make CPLR 310-a and CPLR 311-a applicable to service of
process in Surrogate's Court proceedings.
              

The Surrogate's Court Procedure Act provides explicit and
comprehensive directives for effecting service of process in
Surrogate's Court proceedings. The absence of a rule, or
cross-reference to a rule, for service of process upon a limited
liability partnership or a limited liability company is anomalous to
the statutory framework and creates a potential source for confusion
and uncertainty.

The proposed amendment addresses these concerns by adding the personal
service provisions of CPLR 310-a and CPLR 311-a to SCPA 307(5). By
doing so, this amendment is consistent with the purpose of the statute
to provide clear, definitive direction for service of process on all
categories of persons in a Surrogate's Court proceeding.

This measure, which would have no fiscal impact on the State, would
take effect immediately and apply to proceedings filed on or after its
effective date.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

None. New proposal.