New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 2 - DEPARTMENT OF AUDIT AND CONTROL › Chapter II - Municipal Affairs › Subchapter E - Administration Of Funds Paid Into Courts Of Record › Part 71 - Report Of Open Estates › Section 71.1 - Report of open estates

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a)
				  Whenever the estate of a decedent is being administered by a public
				  administrator pursuant to article 12 of the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act or
				  by a chief fiscal officer of a county who either is appointed administrator of
				  an estate pursuant to section 1219  of the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act or is
				  acting as voluntary administrator pursuant to article 13 of the Surrogate's
				  Court Procedure Act, and such estate has not been fully distributed nor a final
				  accounting filed with petition for settlement with the appropriate Surrogate's
				  Court, the estate representative shall annually in the month of January file a
				  report of open estates with the Office of the State Comptroller, covering every
				  open estate in which permanent letters were issued to such representative or in
				  which an affidavit has been filed by such representative pursuant to section 1304  of the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act, on or before the preceding
				  December 31st. The report of open estates shall be prepared on a form
				  prescribed by the Office of the State Comptroller and shall require the name of
				  the estate, the date letters were granted or affidavit filed, the amount of the
				  gross estate, the amount undistributed, reasons why the final distribution of
				  the estate has not been made, the anticipated estate closing date and such
				  additional information as the State Comptroller may deem warranted. If there
				  are no such open estates, a report must, nevertheless, be filed by the public
				  administrator of chief fiscal officer indicating that no estates are open. As
				  used in this Part, the term public administrator shall mean the public
				  administrator of any county in which the office of public administrator exists
				  or any deputy public administrator or other individual who is performing the
				  duties of the public administrator as provided for by law.
(b) Where a chief fiscal officer acting as
				  administrator leaves office, resigns, or is removed from office, a report must
				  be filed by the former administrator within 30 days from the date of leaving
				  office, resignation or removal from office. In the event of the death or
				  incapacity of the administrator, the report must be filed by the legal
				  representative(s), if any, of the former administrator within 60 days of the
				  appointment of such representative. A copy of any such report must also be
				  filed with the successor in office to the chief fiscal officer. If there are no
				  open estates, a report must, nevertheless, be filed by the legal
				  representative(s), if any, of the former chief fiscal officer indicating that
				  no estates are open.
(c) Failure to
				  timely file any report provided for herein will be considered by the
				  Comptroller as grounds for petitioning the surrogate of the county having
				  jurisdiction, praying for a judicial settlement of the accounts of any such
				  public administrator or chief fiscal officer of a county, pursuant to the
				  provisions of section 8 (11)  of the State Finance
				  Law.
(d) The periods set forth in
				  subdivisions (a) and (b) of this section are not intended to set a standard
				  time for completion of estate administration, but rather to fix the times
				  within which the Comptroller is to be informed of the status of open estates
				  and to fix a period after which the Comptroller may inquire.
(e) This section shall not limit the power of
				  the appropriate Surrogate's Court to direct an accounting at any time on its
				  own initiative or on petition pursuant to section 2205  of the Surrogate's Court
				  Procedure Act.
(f) No open estate
				  shall be excluded from the applicability of the provisions of this section by
				  virtue of the fact that permanent letters of administration were issued to the
				  public administrator or chief fiscal officer acting as administrator prior to
				  the effective date of this regulation.