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A08408 Summary:

BILL NOA08408
 
SAME ASSAME AS S08175
 
SPONSORDais
 
COSPNSRDavila
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd §§307, 308 & 309, SCPA
 
Allows certain methods for service of process including by electronic means.
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A08408 Actions:

BILL NOA08408
 
05/13/2025referred to judiciary
06/15/2025reference changed to ways and means
06/16/2025reported referred to rules
06/16/2025reported
06/16/2025rules report cal.830
06/16/2025ordered to third reading rules cal.830
06/16/2025substituted by s8175
 S08175 AMEND= SEPULVEDA
 05/19/2025REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
 05/28/20251ST REPORT CAL.1423
 05/29/20252ND REPORT CAL.
 06/04/2025ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
 06/09/2025PASSED SENATE
 06/09/2025DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
 06/09/2025referred to judiciary
 06/16/2025substituted for a8408
 06/16/2025ordered to third reading rules cal.830
 06/16/2025passed assembly
 06/16/2025returned to senate
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A08408 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A8408
 
SPONSOR: Dais
  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 service of process, but the experiences of courts, legal practitioners, and self- represented litigants during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that alternative means of process are just as effective as, and at times superior to, personal service. 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. For example, SCPA § 307 has long prohibited service of process upon New York residents by means other than personal delivery without a court order. However, during the pandemic most Surrogate's Courts permitted service upon New York domiciliaries by special mail service (Federal Express, UPS, etc.), with no increase in demands for traverse hearings due to lack of proper service, nor was there an increase in applications to vacate defaults on that basis. Additionally, some Surrogate's Courts utilized their discretion and permitted service upon respondents by c-mail pursuant to SCPA § 307(3). However, the statute does not explicitly mention the possibility of such service. Given that law firms and most of society communicate electron- ically, such a statutorily endorsed option is long overdue and the proposal contains a specific provision for service by electronic means. Finally, because the New York State Attorney General may be served by mail at any office, the bill provides that the time for the Attorney General's Office to be given notice of a proceeding is extended to 30 days unless otherwise modified by court order. This legislation is supported by the Surrogate's Court Judges Association and the Surro- gate's Court Chief Clerk Association, and has been endorsed by the Trusts and Estate Section of the New York State Bar Association. 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.
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A08408 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          8408
 
                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                      May 13, 2025
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by M. of A. DAIS -- (at request of the Unified Court System)
          -- read once and referred 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:
 
     1    Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 2 and 3 of section 307 of  the  surrogate's
     2  court  procedure act, as amended by chapter 355 of the laws of 2000, and
     3  subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) and paragraph (e) of subdivision 3 as
     4  amended by chapter 669 of the laws of  2022,  are  amended  to  read  as
     5  follows:
     6    1. Service by personal delivery. Service of the process may be made on
     7  any person by personal delivery [to him] of a copy of the process either
     8  within or without the state.
     9    2.   Service   by   registered  or  certified  mail,  [return  receipt
    10  requested,]  or  by  special  mail  service[,  upon  non-domiciliaries].
    11  Service  of  the  process  may  be made by registered or certified mail,
    12  [return receipt requested,] or by special mail service, [upon  non-domi-
    13  ciliaries, whether or not they be natural persons] within or without the
    14  state.
    15    3. Service by court order. As an alternative to service under subdivi-
    16  sions  1 and 2, service may be made in the manner directed by the court;
    17  but such service, except as provided by  subdivision  6,  shall  not  be
    18  ordered  upon a domiciliary natural person unless it be shown that, with
    19  due diligence, service [by personal delivery  within  the  state]  under
    20  subdivision  1  or  2 cannot be effected, or where for good cause shown,
    21  [personal service within the state] such service would be impracticable.
    22  Any proof necessary hereunder may be submitted in  the  petition  or  by
    23  affidavit.  The  court  may take into account the size of the estate and
    24  the remoteness of kinship of any person to be cited in  determining  the
    25  appropriate  due  diligence  necessary to permit alternate service under
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD09845-01-5

        A. 8408                             2
 
     1  this section. The court may direct service by any one  or  more  of  the
     2  following methods, which shall not, however, be exclusive:
     3    (a)  service  by publication, such as is provided by CPLR 316, subject
     4  to 308 and 309, and to such variations of CPLR  316  as  the  court  may
     5  provide, except that
     6    (i) where persons are to be served by publication, publication in only
     7  1 newspaper shall be required, or
     8    (ii)  where  a person is alleged to be within a country with which the
     9  United States of America is at war or a  place  with  which  the  United
    10  States  of America does not maintain postal communication, the court may
    11  direct that a copy of the process shall be  mailed  on  behalf  of  such
    12  person  to the officer who may have been appointed to take possession of
    13  the property of noncitizen enemies, or
    14    (iii) where the person to be served is an absentee or  alleged  to  be
    15  deceased,  the  court  may  direct  that  in  addition  to the foregoing
    16  requirements, the process be published in a newspaper  published  at  or
    17  near the place where the absentee was last known to be, or
    18    (iv)  in  an  adoption  proceeding under article seven of the domestic
    19  relations law or in a proceeding under  section  three  hundred  eighty-
    20  four-b  of  the  social  services  law, a single publication in only one
    21  newspaper shall be sufficient.
    22    (b) service by [mail, by registered or certified mail with or  without
    23  return  receipt  requested, or by any manner of special mail service, as
    24  the court may direct] electronic means, as that term is defined by  CPLR
    25  2103(f)(2),  bearing  the  caption  of the matter in the subject line of
    26  said transmission;
    27    (c) substituted service such as is provided by CPLR 308 (2)  and  (4),
    28  within  or  without the state, subject to 308 and 309, and to such vari-
    29  ations of CPLR 308 as the court may provide;
    30    (d) service within or without the state, by  personal  delivery  to  a
    31  person  duly designated by respondent to receive process [in his] on the
    32  respondent's behalf, or to a person  whose  relationship,  whatever  its
    33  character, and by blood or otherwise to the respondent, indicates in the
    34  circumstances  the  probability that actual notice will reach the latter
    35  [through him];
    36    (e) if the interest of a non-domiciliary noncitizen in the  estate  is
    37  less  than  $2,500  or  [his or her] such person's address is unknown or
    38  such estate's gross assets are less than $25,000, by delivery of a  copy
    39  of the process to a consular official of the noncitizen's nation.
    40    §  2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 308 of the surrogate's
    41  court procedure act, as amended by chapter 685 of the laws of  1967,  is
    42  amended to read as follows:
    43    (a) The citation shall be served at least the following number of days
    44  before the return day:
    45    (i)  10  days  if  the  person  is served within the state by personal
    46  delivery;
    47    (ii) 20 days if the person is served [without the  state  but]  within
    48  the  United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
    49  Rico or the possessions or territories of the  United  States  by  other
    50  than personal delivery; and
    51    (iii)  30 days in all other cases and where the office of the attorney
    52  general is a party.
    53    § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 309 of the surrogate's  court  procedure
    54  act,  as  amended by chapter 355 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read
    55  as follows:

        A. 8408                             3
 
     1    2. Service by other means. Unless the  court  directs  otherwise,  the
     2  service of the process shall be complete when served by:
     3    (a)  mailing  or  by  registered  or  certified mail, [with or without
     4  return receipt requested,] upon the mailing thereof;
     5    (b) special mail service, upon receipt of the envelope containing  the
     6  process  by the United States Postal Service in the case of express mail
     7  or upon receipt of the envelope containing the process by the designated
     8  delivery service in the case of any other special mail service;
     9    (c) substituted service, upon the delivery or affixing and the mailing
    10  thereof, whichever is done last;
    11    (d) personal delivery to a person duly designated by  the  respondent,
    12  or  to a person or consular official designated by the court by order to
    13  be served in respondent's behalf, upon such personal delivery;
    14    (e) publication, on the 28th day after the first publication; [or]
    15    (f) electronic means, upon transmittal of the process to  the  recipi-
    16  ent; or
    17    (g) any other means, as the court directs.
    18    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
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