Uniform Rules § 207.15

Birth and death certificates · as in force on May 31, 2026

(a) A birth certificate shall be filed upon an application for letters of guardianship or an order of adoption.

(b) A death certificate shall be filed upon an application for letters testamentary, letters of administration or voluntary administration. Alternate evidence of death may be accepted in the discretion of the court.

Official sourcehttps://www.nycourts.gov/rules/part-207-uniform-rules-surrogates-court

In plain English

This rule says when birth and death certificates must be filed in Surrogate's Court.

(a) A birth certificate shall be filed on an application for letters of guardianship or an order of adoption. ★
(b) A death certificate shall be filed on an application for letters testamentary, letters of administration or voluntary administration. ★ The court may, in its discretion, accept alternate evidence of death.
(c) In any other proceeding, the court may require birth and death certificates in its discretion.

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.