New York State Estate Guide — All 62 County Surrogate’s Courts & Venue

**New York estate planning is governed by one statewide rulebook — the Estate Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL) for substance and the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act (SCPA) for procedure — but it is administered through 62 separate county Surrogate’s Courts. There is no statewide Surrogate’s Court. When a New Yorker dies, their estate is handled by the Surrogate’s Court of the county where they were domiciled (SCPA 205-206), whether that is Manhattan, Buffalo, White Plains, or Riverhead. This guide explains how to plan once and account for venue everywhere.**

This is the page that makes New York different from a single-borough site: we don’t pretend probate happens in one courthouse. We map it across the whole state.

The statewide structure: two laws, 62 courts

Layer	What it is	Where it applies
EPTL	Substantive law — wills, trusts, intestacy, fiduciary rules	Identical in all 62 counties
SCPA	Procedural law — petitions, citations, fees, accountings	Identical rules; applied by each county court
Surrogate’s Court	The forum	One per county; domicile sets which one
Venue	Which court hears the estate	County of domicile (SCPA 205-206)

So a will drafted in Syracuse and a will drafted in Brooklyn must both satisfy EPTL 3-2.1 (signed at the end, two witnesses). But the Onondaga County estate is filed in Syracuse and the Kings County estate in Brooklyn. Plan to the statute; file to the domicile.

Verified court framework

There is no single statewide address to cite — and any site that gives you one is wrong. Instead, the verifiable facts are structural:

• 62 counties, 62 Surrogate’s Courts. Each county’s court has exclusive venue over the estates of its domiciliaries.
• Venue follows domicile under SCPA 205 (New York domiciliaries) and SCPA 206 (non-domiciliaries with New York property — ancillary proceedings).
• Filing fees are statewide under SCPA 2402 (the graduated schedule is the same in every county).
• NYSCEF e-filing is available in most counties, but mandatory-vs-voluntary status varies — verify with the specific county.

For an estate, the only address that matters is the Surrogate’s Court of the decedent’s county. Confirm it directly with that county’s court before filing.

Regional property and asset realities across New York

New York’s estates look very different depending on the region — and the asset mix changes how title passes and what the executor must do:

• New York City (five boroughs). Estates are dominated by co-op and condo ownership. A co-op owner holds shares plus a proprietary lease, not real property, so the executor deals with a co-op board’s approval process rather than a simple deed transfer. High values frequently trigger the NY estate-tax cliff.
• Downstate suburbs (Westchester, Rockland, Nassau, Suffolk). Single-family homes dominate — real property that passes by deed, often dramatically appreciated, raising basis and cliff concerns. Suffolk adds boats, small businesses, and East-End/Hamptons second homes.
• Hudson Valley and Capital Region (Dutchess, Ulster, Albany). A mix of single-family homes, small farms, and second homes.
• Western and Central New York (Erie, Monroe, Onondaga). Predominantly single-family real property at lower values, where the cliff is less of a concern but probate procedure is identical.
• Rural and North Country counties. Farmland, hunting/recreational land, and family businesses, often raising kinship and succession-planning issues.

A statewide plan — typically a funded revocable trust plus a will, power of attorney, and health care proxy — works across all of these because it sidesteps the county Surrogate’s Court entirely for funded assets.

Statewide filing realities

1. Fees are uniform, courts are not. The SCPA 2402 fee schedule is identical statewide, but processing speed depends on each county’s caseload — downstate courts (Kings, Queens, Nassau, New York) carry heavier dockets than rural counties.
2. E-filing varies by county. NYSCEF coverage is broad but not perfectly uniform; confirm the status of the relevant county’s court.
3. One domicile, one primary court. Even multi-county property owners have a single primary proceeding in the domicile county; out-of-county real property may require ancillary handling.

County quirks that trip up New Yorkers

• Domicile, not death location, controls. A snowbird who winters in Florida but is domiciled in Nassau is probated in Nassau — establishing or contesting domicile can itself be litigated.
• No transfer-on-death deeds in New York. Unlike many states, New York does not recognize TOD deeds for real property, so a home in your sole name passes through the estate unless it’s in a trust or held jointly.
• Multi-county estates. Owning a primary home upstate and a co-op in the city can mean the domicile-county proceeding plus ancillary steps for the other property — a strong argument for a single funded trust.

Neighborhoods and sub-areas that ground a New York estate

New York estates are concrete and local: a Park Slope brownstone in Kings County, an Upper West Side co-op in New York County, a single-family home in Mineola (Nassau) or Riverhead (Suffolk), a Capital Region home near Albany, a lakefront property in the Finger Lakes, or a Buffalo two-family in Erie County. Each sits in a different Surrogate’s Court, yet all answer to the same EPTL and SCPA.

A worked statewide example

Scenario: Margaret was domiciled in White Plains, Westchester County. She owned a single-family home there (long held, highly appreciated), a brokerage account, a life-insurance policy naming her son, and a small co-op pied-à-terre on the Upper West Side in New York County. She had a valid will but no trust.

• Venue: Her estate is probated in Westchester County Surrogate’s Court (her domicile, SCPA 205) — not split between two courts.
• The co-op: Because it sits in New York County, transferring it may require ancillary handling and co-op board approval, since she owned shares plus a proprietary lease.
• The life insurance: Passes directly to her son by beneficiary designation — outside the will and outside probate (see wills).
• Estate tax: The appreciated Westchester home plus the co-op plus investments could push her over the NY exemption and into cliff territory — a funded trust and credit-shelter planning while alive could have reduced both tax and the two-court hassle.

The lesson: one domicile-county proceeding, multiple asset types, and a clear case for trust-based planning that ignores county lines.

Mini-FAQ for New York State

Is there one Surrogate’s Court for all of New York? No — 62 county courts. Your estate is filed in your county of domicile (SCPA 205-206).

Does New York have transfer-on-death deeds? No. Real property in your sole name passes through the estate unless it’s in a trust or jointly held.

What if I own property in more than one New York county? The primary estate is administered in your domicile county; other-county real property may need ancillary handling — a funded trust avoids both.

Does the estate-tax cliff apply everywhere in New York? Yes — it’s statewide under Tax Law Article 26, though appreciated downstate property is more likely to trigger it.

Where to get help across New York

Wherever in the state you live, the right plan is built to the EPTL/SCPA framework and filed in the correct county. Russel Morgan of Morgan Legal Group serves New York families statewide. Book a 30-minute consultation. Schedule now. Start with the probate process, Surrogate’s Court, or the full FAQ.