SCPA § 1504

Renunciation of appointment: retraction thereof 1 · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 1504. Renunciation of appointment: retraction thereof

1. A testamentary trustee may renounce his appointment by a duly acknowledged instrument.

2. By like instrument the renunciation may be retracted at any time before letters have been issued to another in his place or after such letters have been issued, if they have been revoked or the person to whom they have been issued has become unable to act or disqualified. The court may issue letters to the person so retracting upon such notice as it may require.

3. The instrument of renunciation and the instrument of retraction authorized by this section must be filed in the office of the court having jurisdiction of the trust.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/SCP/1504

In plain English

A testamentary trustee may give up, and sometimes reclaim, the appointment.

(1) Renunciation requires a duly acknowledged instrument.
(2) It may be retracted in the same form before replacement letters issue, or after they issue if revoked or their holder cannot act or is disqualified; the court may then issue letters on required notice. ★
(3) The instruments must be filed with the court having jurisdiction of the 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 2 — The Surrogate's Court Procedure Act; Volume 5 — Your Career: Surrogate's Court in Plain English.