SCPA § 1702

Jurisdiction 1 · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 1702. Jurisdiction

1. Where an infant has no guardian the court may appoint a guardian of his person or property, or of both, in the following cases:

(a) Where the infant is domiciled in that county or has sojourned therein immediately preceding the application.

(b) Where the infant is a non-domiciliary of the state but has property situate in that county.

2. Where an infant or child has no guardian, the court may appoint a permanent guardian for the child in accordance with the provisions of section seventeen hundred one of this article where the infant is domiciled in that county or where such child is in the care or custody of an authorized agency, as defined in subdivision ten of section three hundred seventy-one of the social services law, and such authorized agency has its principal office in that county.

3. Where the permanency goal for a foster child who is the subject of a proceeding under article ten or ten-A of the family court act is referral for legal guardianship, a petition filed under this article by a fit and willing relative or other suitable person shall be filed with the court before whom the most recent proceeding under article ten or ten-A of the family court act is pending.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/SCP/1702

In plain English

(1) For an infant without a guardian, the court may appoint a guardian of the person, property, or both if the infant is domiciled in the county or sojourned there immediately before the application, or, for a non-New York domiciliary, has property there.
(2) The court may appoint a permanent guardian under § 1701 if the child is domiciled in the county or is in the care or custody of an authorized agency whose principal office is there.
(3) When a foster child's permanency goal is referral for legal guardianship, a petition by a fit and willing relative or other suitable person must be filed in the court handling the most recent Family Court Act article 10 or 10-A proceeding. ★

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.