Court Safekeeping of Original Wills in New York
At a glance
| Statutory safekeeping route | Court receives a domiciliary's will delivered for safekeeping (SCPA § 2507(1)). |
|---|---|
| Who may deposit | Any person may deliver a county domiciliary's will (SCPA § 2507(1)). |
| Proper court or clerk | Court of any county where the testator is domiciled (SCPA § 2507(1)). |
| Envelope and filing record | Sealed wrapper endorsed with testator's name, domicile and delivery date (SCPA § 2507(2)). |
| Fee and receipt | $45, reducible or waivable by the county court; written receipt (SCPA §§ 2402(9)(v), 2507(1)). |
| Custody before death | Wrapper cannot be opened, read or examined until authorized delivery (SCPA § 2507(2)). |
| Retrieval before death | Testator in person or written, sworn and acknowledged order (SCPA § 2507(3)(a)–(b)). |
| Notice after death | Wrapper may name a postdeath recipient; § 2507 directs delivery but specifies no separate clerk notice step (SCPA § 2507(3)). |
| Opening and release after death | Named wrapper recipient, otherwise Surrogate's Court; that court publicly opens and files the will (SCPA § 2507(3)–(4)). |
Requirements one by one
Who may deposit and where
SCPA § 2507(1) speaks to the will's owner by domicile, not the deliverer's identity: “any person” may deliver a county domiciliary's will to that county's court for safekeeping. The court gives a written receipt to the person depositing it.
Envelope and custody
SCPA § 2507(2) requires the sealed wrapper to carry the testator's name, domicile, and exact delivery date. It says the will cannot be “opened, read or examined” until delivered to a person entitled to it under the section.
Fee and retrieval
SCPA § 2402(9)(v) lists $45 for a safekeeping filing and lets the court in any county reduce or dispense with that fee. During life, SCPA § 2507(3) allows delivery to the testator in person or on a written order proved by the testator's oath and duly acknowledged.
After death
SCPA § 2507(3) first directs delivery to a person named in an endorsement on the wrapper. If no such endorsement exists, or the will was deposited with an officer other than a surrogate, delivery goes to the county Surrogate's Court. Under SCPA § 2507(4), that court publicly opens and examines the will after death, makes its contents known, and files it pending proof or another court's demand.
What trips people up
The $45 filing fee remains in the current statute. A 3209 and S 2532 would remove it, but both remain at the committee stage; the proposal calls for effectiveness 90 days after enactment. The court's ability to waive or reduce the present fee comes from § 2402(9)(v), not from those bills.
Common questions
Must the person delivering the will be the testator? No. SCPA § 2507(1) says any person may deliver a will of a county domiciliary for this purpose.
Does depositing the will itself prove it? No. SCPA § 2507(4) says the filed will remains until “duly proved, if capable of proof”; safekeeping and probate proof are separate steps.
Statutes and sources
- N.Y. SCPA §§ 2507(1)–(4) and 2402(9)(v). Verbatim official text, source URLs, and access dates appear in the source fields above.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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