SCPA § 1602

Ancillary probate based upon domiciliary probate 1 · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 1602. Ancillary probate based upon domiciliary probate

1. A written will which upon probate may operate upon any property in this state shall be admitted to probate by the surrogate's court having jurisdiction over the property upon proof that it has been admitted to probate at the testator's domicile or has been established in accordance with the law of such jurisdiction, and if its probate or establishment remains subject to contest under the law of his domicile, upon proof that it is not being contested thereat. A will so admitted to probate under this section is sufficient to operate on any property within the terms of the will, subject to any limitations upon its operation imposed by the law of the testator's domicile in respect of legal capacity. Rights granted by the law of the domicile to take against the will are not affected by this section.

2. A will offered for probate under this section may be contested only upon the ground that the conditions prescribed herein have not been satisfied or that the will has been denied probate in this state.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/SCP/1602

In plain English

A written will that can operate on New York property must be admitted to probate by the Surrogate’s Court with jurisdiction over that property once domiciliary probate is proved.

(1) The proponent must prove the will was admitted to probate or established at the testator’s domicile and, if still contestable there, that it is not being contested there. ★ The will then operates on property within its terms, subject to domicile-law legal-capacity limits; domicile-law rights to take against the will are unaffected.
(2) The will may be contested only on the ground that these conditions were not met or that it was denied probate in New York. ★

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.