SCPA § 1703

Petition for appointment; by whom made A petition for the appointment of a guardian of the person or property, or both, of an infant may ...  ·  as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 1703. Petition for appointment; by whom made

A petition for the appointment of a guardian of the person or property, or both, of an infant may be made by any person on behalf of the infant or if the infant be over the age of fourteen years, it may be made by the infant. A petition for appointment as a guardian of the property of an infant may also be made by the public administrator of the county in which the infant resides where no one else is available to serve as guardian. The court may grant such a petition of the public administrator upon its certification that all other efforts to appoint a guardian have been exhausted. A petition for appointment as a permanent guardian of an infant or child may be brought by any person on behalf of the infant or child.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/SCP/1703

In plain English

Any person may petition on an infant’s behalf for a guardian of the person, property, or both; an infant over 14 years old may petition personally. The county public administrator may seek property guardianship only when no one else is available, after certifying that all other appointment efforts were exhausted. Any person may petition on a child’s behalf for a permanent guardian. ★

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.