NY State Senate Bill 2025-S8175

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
May 19, 2025	referred to judiciary

2025-S8175 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A8408
Current Committee:: Senate Judiciary
Law Section:: Surrogate's Court Procedure Act
Laws Affected:: Amd §§307, 308 & 309, SCPA
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: S9783

2025-S8175 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Allows certain methods for service of process including by electronic means.

2025-S8175 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8175

SPONSOR: SEPULVEDA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the surrogate's court procedure act, in relation to
allowing certain methods for service of process

2.  
SOURCE OF BILL

This bill is being introduced at the request of the Unified Court
System, on the recommendation of the Chief Administrative Judge's Surro-
gate's Court Advisory Committee.

3.  
PURPOSE OF BILL

This bill would simplify and modernize service of process requirements
for Surrogate's Court proceedings.

4.  
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS

Section 1 of this bill amends SCPA § 307 to allow service of process
upon New York State residents by registered or certified mail without
the necessity of obtaining a court order, and to allow the court to
order service of process by electronic means.

Section 2 of this bill amends SCPA § 308 to update the time within which
process must be served, allowing for 10 days where service is made by
personal delivery, 20 days where service is made by other than personal
delivery within the United States, and 30 days in all other cases and
where the Office of the Attorney General is a party.

Section 3 of this bill amends SCPA § 309 to update the provisions for
when service of process may be deemed complete.

Section 4 of this bill provides the effective date, which is immediate.

5.  
JUSTIFICATION

This bill would amend sections 307, 308 and 309 of the Surrogate's Court
Procedure Act (SCPA) in relation to service of process in Surrogate's
Court proceedings. Currently, those sections require personal delivery
of process on all New York State residents to commence a proceeding. But
the experiences of courts, legal practitioners, and self-represented
litigants have demonstrated that alternative means of process are just
as effective as, and at times superior to, service by personal delivery.
Additionally, the removal of the need to obtain a court order to permit
such alternate service increased the efficiency of the courts and
enabled most self-represented parties an easier and cost-effective means
of obtaining jurisdiction over necesary, parties. Accordingly, this
measure is proposed to simplify and modernize service requirements.

During the pandemic, the courts, practitioners and self-represented
litigants had to find ways to operate in an environment where personal
delivery of citations and other documents was impossible.  Consequently,
other means of service of process had to be permitted in order for the
courts to function, which allowed these new modes of service to be test-
ed.

SCPA § 307 has long prohibited service of process upon New York resi-
dents by means other than personal delivery without a court order.
However, during the pandemic and for a period thereafter most Surro-
gate's Courts permitted service upon New York domiciliaries by special
mail service (Federal Express, UPS, etc.). There was no increase in
demands for traverse hearings due to lack of proper service, nor was
there an increase in applications to vacate defaults due to allegations
of lack of service.

Additionally, some Surrogate's Courts utilized their discretion and
permitted service upon respondents by e-mail pursuant to SCPA § 307(3).
However, the statute does not explicitly permit the use of such service.
Given that law firms and most of society communicate electronically, and
electronic filing is now mandatory in most courts, such a statutorily
endorsed option is long overdue. Thus, the proposal contains a specific
provision permitting service by electronic means with a court order.

Finally, because the New York State Attorney General may be served by
mail at any office, the bill provides, at the Attorney General's
request, that this office be provided 30 days' notice of a proceeding is
unless otherwise modified by court order.

This legislation is supported by the Surrogate's Court Judges Associ-
ation and the Surrogate's Court Chief Clerk Association and has been
endorsed by the Trusts and Estate Section of the New York State and New
York City Bar Associations.

6.  
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

This bill was introduced and passed the Senate in 2024 (S.9783).

7.  
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

None.

8.  
EFFECTIVE DATE
This bill would take effect immediately.

2025-S8175 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8175
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 19, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. SEPULVEDA -- (at request of the Unified Court System)
   -- 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
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD09845-01-5

 S. 8175                             2
 
 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
   (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:
 S. 8175                             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.

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Senate Bill S8175

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

2025-S8175 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S8175 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S8175 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S8175 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S8175

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Luis R. Sepúlveda

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

2025-S8175 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S8175 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S8175 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S8175 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments