Testamentary direction to purchase annuities · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 3-3.9 Testamentary direction to purchase annuities
If a testator directs in his will the purchase of an annuity, the beneficiaries to whom the income thereof is to be paid may not elect to take the capital sum directed to be used for the purchase of such annuity in lieu thereof, unless the will expressly confers such right or except as the will expressly provides for the purchase of an assignable annuity. But nothing contained herein shall impair the right of election by a surviving spouse under 5-1.1 or 5-1.1-A.
When a will directs purchase of an annuity, the income beneficiaries cannot take the capital sum instead unless the will expressly allows it or directs purchase of an assignable annuity. A surviving spouse’s election rights under § 5-1.1 or § 5-1.1-A remain intact. ★
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.
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.