S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8408
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               May 13, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. DAIS -- (at request of the Unified Court System)
   -- read once and referred 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
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD09845-01-5
              

 A. 8408                             2
 
 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
   (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] ON THE
 RESPONDENT'S 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] SUCH PERSON'S 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. Subdivision 2 of section 309 of the surrogate's  court  procedure
 act,  as  amended by chapter 355 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read
 as follows:
 A. 8408                             3
 
   2. Service by other means. Unless the  court  directs  otherwise,  the
 service of the process shall be complete when served by:
   (a)  mailing  or  by  registered  or  certified mail, [with or without
 return receipt requested,] upon the mailing thereof;
   (b) special mail service, upon receipt of the envelope containing  the
 process  by the United States Postal Service in the case of express mail
 or upon receipt of the envelope containing the process by the designated
 delivery service in the case of any other special mail service;
   (c) substituted service, upon the delivery or affixing and the mailing
 thereof, whichever is done last;
   (d) personal delivery to a person duly designated by  the  respondent,
 or  to a person or consular official designated by the court by order to
 be served in respondent's behalf, upon such personal delivery;
   (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.