Which Surrogate's Court Do I File In?
Each of New York's 62 counties has its own Surrogate's Court. The right county is almost always decided by a single fact: where the person who died made their permanent home.
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The short answer
Surrogate's Court proceedings are filed in the county where the person who died was domiciled — where they made their fixed, permanent home — at the time of death. Not the county where they died. Not the county where you live. Not the county where the bank is.
That rule comes from state law — SCPA 205 — and it applies the same way in all 62 counties. The main exception is a person who lived outside New York but left property here; that situation is covered below.
What “domicile” means — in plain English
New York law defines domicile as “a fixed, permanent and principal home to which a person wherever temporarily located always intends to return” (SCPA 103). It is a person's home base — not necessarily the place where they spent their final months.
A person can have several residences, but only one domicile at a time. Someone can spend winters in Florida, weeks at a summer house, or a year in a rehab facility and still be domiciled in the New York county where they keep their principal home.
When domicile is disputed, courts look at the overall picture. Typical markers include:
- where the person's main home was (owned or rented) and where they kept their belongings
- the address used on tax returns, driver's license, and voter registration
- where their doctor, religious congregation, and everyday accounts were
- what the person said their home was — in their will, on documents, or to family
For most families this is not complicated: the person lived in one county, and that is the county where the case is filed.
What does NOT decide the county
These are the most common mix-ups. None of these facts, on its own, determines where the case is filed.
Where the person died
Dying in a hospital, nursing home, or while visiting another county (or state) does not move the case there. Domicile controls.
Where you live
The petitioner can live in another county, another state, or another country. The case still belongs in the decedent's county of domicile.
Where the accounts or the will are
The bank branch, the office of the attorney who held the will, or the safe-deposit box does not set the county for the case.
Where the property is (for NY residents)
For a New York domiciliary, a summer house or other property in a second county does not split the case: everything is handled in the county of domicile.
Lived outside New York but left property here
If the person was domiciled in another state or country but left assets in New York — an apartment, a house, an account — the main estate proceeding happens where they were domiciled, and New York gets involved only for the New York assets. That is normally done through an ancillary proceeding: ancillary probate if there was a will, or ancillary administration if there was not.
For these cases, the law points to the correct county in SCPA 206: the proceeding belongs in the New York county where the decedent left the property (or where personal property of theirs has since arrived and remains unadministered). If the property is a Manhattan condo, the county is New York County; if it is a house in Hempstead, it is Nassau.
Ancillary proceedings have their own document requirements — typically certified or exemplified copies of the home state's court file. The mechanics of an ancillary case are beyond this page, but the starting point is the same: identify the New York county where the property sits, and that is the court.
When the county isn't obvious
Some situations create genuine uncertainty about the right county:
- A recent move. The person moved shortly before death — say, from Queens to an apartment in Suffolk. The question is whether the move was a permanent change of home or a temporary stay.
- Time split between two homes. Half the year in the Bronx, half at a house upstate. Only one can be the domicile, and the markers described above decide which.
- Years in a care facility. A long nursing home stay in another county, while the original home was either kept or sold.
For these ties, the law has a practical rule: where more than one county could be proper, the court where a proceeding is first properly commenced keeps the case, and proceedings in other counties are transferred to that court. A Surrogate can also transfer a case to the proper county on the court's own motion or at a party's request (SCPA 205–206).
When domicile is genuinely contested — for example, because two states both claim estate tax, or two relatives filed in different counties — that is a legal question a licensed New York attorney can evaluate. This page describes the general rules; it is not legal advice.
Find your county's court
Once you know the county of domicile, head to that county's section for the courthouse address, phone numbers, hours, and local practice.
Don't see your county? The state court system keeps a directory of all 62 Surrogate's Courts at nycourts.gov.
Already know which county you're filing in?
The forms are statewide forms, so you can prepare them online through Keystone Pinnacle Pro and file them in whichever county applies — guided document preparation, not legal advice.
Prepare Forms OnlineAbout picking the right county
This page summarizes venue rules (SCPA 103, 205, and 206) for general informational purposes. It is not legal advice, and procedures can change. Always verify with the official court or a licensed New York attorney.
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