Estate Inventory and Appraisement Requirements in New York
At a glance
| Governing law and administration type | Statewide Surrogate's Court Inventory of Assets under 22 NYCRR 207.20; category-band filing, not a separate appraisement |
|---|---|
| Who prepares, signs, and verifies | Fiduciary or attorney of record furnishes it; either signs the official form and certifies it true; no oath or notarization stated |
| Deadline, trigger, and extension | Within 9 months after letters issue, or as the court otherwise directs (22 NYCRR 207.20(b)) |
| Court filing or private delivery | File official Inventory of Assets with Surrogate's Court; no statewide delivery-to-beneficiaries duty in Rule 207.20 |
| Property scope, exclusions, and encumbrances | Probate assets owned individually, including partial interests, or payable/transferrable to estate; trust, beneficiary-designation, joint, and other nonprobate property disclosed yes/no |
| Valuation date and method | Report each probate asset class and total by A-G value band; form calls it gross estate for tax purposes; no item value, appraisal date, or valuation method stated |
| Appraiser requirement and qualifications | No independent appraiser or appraisal report required by Rule 207.20 or the official form |
| Recipients, confidentiality, and access | Court receives form; redact protected personal/account data; separate Firearms Inventory has restricted access (22 NYCRR 207.64) |
| Correction, supplementation, and noncompliance | No express statewide amendment/reappraisal deadline; court may direct otherwise; nonfiling can block certificates, revoke letters, and reduce commissions or fees |
Requirements one by one
The filing, signer, and nine-month clock
New York uses the statewide Surrogate's Court Inventory of Assets under 22 NYCRR § 207.20. It is not an item-by-item inventory and appraisal like the California filing. The rule says either the fiduciary or the attorney of record must furnish the official form to the court:
“The fiduciary or the attorney of record shall furnish the court with an Inventory of Assets form.”
The form is due within nine months after letters issue, unless the court directs another date. The official Form I-1 lets the fiduciary or counsel sign and certify the information as true. Neither the rule nor the form adds an oath, notarization, or independent-appraiser signature.
What the form reports
Probate property is reported by asset class and value band. Rule 207.20(a)(1) reaches property the decedent owned individually—including a partial interest—and property payable or transferrable to the estate. The official form separately lists real estate, stocks and bonds, insurance payable to the estate, retirement accounts payable to the estate, mortgages or notes, cash, miscellaneous property, and firearms.
The form does not disclose exact values. Each probate asset class and the total estate assets receive one letter from A through G, ranging from under $10,000 to $500,000 or more. The signer certifies that the filing constitutes the “gross estate for tax purposes,” but Rule 207.20 and Form I-1 do not prescribe an item-by-item appraisal, a separate appraisal date, or a valuation method.
Nonprobate property is disclosure-only. The rule requires yes-or-no answers for trust property, beneficiary-designation assets, jointly owned property, and other nonprobate property. These answers identify that the categories exist; they do not place the property into the probate-asset total.
Appraisal, filing access, and firearms
Rule 207.20 and Form I-1 require no independent appraiser or appraisement report. The filing instead communicates gross values through category letters. If a particular asset needs professional valuation for administration or tax work, that separate need is not an attachment or appraiser mandate created by this inventory rule.
The court receives the Inventory of Assets; Rule 207.20 does not require the fiduciary to mail or deliver it to beneficiaries or creditors. The general redaction rule requires taxpayer-identification and financial-account data to be shortened to the permitted final digits. If the estate includes firearms, Form I-1 calls for a separate Firearms Inventory, and § 207.64 restricts who may view or copy that separate filing.
No statewide supplement clock, but express filing sanctions
Rule 207.20 and Form I-1 do not state a statewide deadline for an amended or supplemental inventory, a corrected value band, or a reappraisal. The rule does, however, preserve the court's power to direct a different filing date. A later discovery or material mistake therefore calls for prompt court-specific advice rather than borrowing another state's automatic supplement period.
The consequence for never filing is explicit. The court may refuse certificates, revoke the fiduciary's letters, refuse new letters until the form is filed and fees are paid, and treat the failure as grounds to disallow commissions or legal fees.
What trips people up
The official filing asks for value bands, not the exact dollar schedule a fiduciary may keep in estate records. Filing a detailed preparation worksheet in place of Form I-1 would disclose more than Rule 207.20 requests and would not substitute for the official form.
Nonprobate property appears on the form, but only through yes-or-no disclosure. Joint property, beneficiary-designation assets, and trust property do not become probate assets merely because the form asks whether they exist.
Common questions
Does New York require an estate appraiser?
Not for the Rule 207.20 Inventory of Assets. The statewide filing uses broad value categories and contains no independent-appraiser requirement.
Can the estate file the attorney's detailed worksheet instead?
No. Rule 207.20 requires the official Inventory of Assets form. A worksheet can help calculate the category letters, but it does not replace Form I-1.
What happens if the form is late?
The court may refuse certificates, revoke letters, decline to issue new letters, or disallow fiduciary commissions or legal fees. The rule also permits the court to direct a filing date other than the ordinary nine-month deadline.
Statutes and sources
- 22 NYCRR §§ 207.1 and 207.20 — statewide coverage, property scope, category bands, nine-month filing deadline, court direction, fees, and nonfiling consequences. Official New York State Unified Court System rules: https://www.nycourts.gov/rules/part-207-uniform-rules-surrogates-court (accessed 2026-08-10).
- New York Surrogate's Court Form I-1 — signer certification, gross-estate description, value bands, asset classes, nonprobate disclosures, and firearms answer. Official form: https://www.nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/FORMS/surrogates/pdfs/IofA.pdf (accessed 2026-08-10).
- 22 NYCRR § 207.64 — confidential-personal-information redaction and restricted access to the separate Firearms Inventory. Official New York State Unified Court System rules: https://www.nycourts.gov/rules/part-207-uniform-rules-surrogates-court (accessed 2026-08-10).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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