EPTL § 11-1.7

Limitations on powers and immunities of executors and · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 11-1.7 Limitations on powers and immunities of executors and

testamentary trustees

(a) The attempted grant to an executor, testamentary trustee, or inter vivos trustee, or his or her successor, of any of the following enumerated powers or immunities is contrary to public policy:

(1) The exoneration of such fiduciary from liability for failure to exercise reasonable care, diligence and prudence.

(2) The power to make a binding and conclusive fixation of the value of any asset for purposes of distribution, allocation or otherwise.

(b) The attempted grant in any will or trust of any power or immunity in contravention of the terms of this section shall be void but shall not be deemed to render such will or trust invalid as a whole, and the remaining terms of the instrument shall, so far as possible, remain effective.

(c) Any person interested in an estate or trust may contest the validity of any purported grant of any power or immunity within the purview of this section without diminishing or affecting adversely his or her interest in the estate or trust any provision in any will or trust to the contrary notwithstanding.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EPT/11-1.7

In plain English

Bars two kinds of protection for executors and trustees.

(a) Any attempt to give an executor, testamentary trustee or inter vivos trustee (or successor) either of these is against public policy: (1) exoneration from liability for failing to use reasonable care, diligence and prudence ★; (2) power to make a binding and conclusive valuation of any asset for distribution, allocation or otherwise.
(b) Such a grant in a will or trust is void, but the will or trust is not invalid as a whole and its other terms stay effective as far as possible.
(c) Any interested person may contest such a grant without losing or reducing their interest, notwithstanding any contrary provision in the will or trust. ★

Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.

In print

This provision appears in Volume 1 — The Surrogate's Court in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Surrogate's Court: Court Rules & the EPTL; Volume 5 — Your Career: Surrogate's Court in Plain English.