Effect of failure to present claim If any claim is not presented within 7 months from the date of issue of letters, the fiduciary shall n... · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 1802. Effect of failure to present claim
If any claim is not presented within 7 months from the date of issue of letters, the fiduciary shall not be chargeable for any assets or moneys that he may have paid in good faith in satisfaction of any lawful claims or of any legacies or distributions to the legatees or distributees of the decedent before such claim was presented. Such 7 month period shall begin on the date letters were first issued to any fiduciary, including a temporary administrator or a preliminary executor, and shall not be interrupted by any subsequent issue of letters, except that the time during which there is no fiduciary in office shall not be counted as part of such period.
If a claim is not presented within 7 months after letters were first issued to any fiduciary, the fiduciary is not personally chargeable for estate assets paid in good faith before presentation toward lawful claims, legacies, or distributions. ★ Later letters do not restart or interrupt the period, but time with no fiduciary in office does not count.
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.
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.