SCPA § 701

Requisites of letters 1 · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 701. Requisites of letters

1. Letters granted by any court to a fiduciary shall be issued in the name of the people of the state, attested in the name of the judge of the court, sealed with the seal of the court and signed by the court or the chief clerk of the court or such other officer as the chief clerk shall have authorized or deputized for the purpose.

2. To all letters of guardianship of the property of an infant, the court must cause a copy of 1719 and 1720 to be annexed or printed thereon.

3. No court except the court which issues letters shall have power to suspend, modify or revoke them, so long as the court issuing them has jurisdiction of the estate or matter in which the letters were issued.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/SCP/701

In plain English

The court must issue fiduciary letters in the required official form.

(1) Letters must be issued in the People’s name, attested in the judge’s name, sealed, and signed by the court or an authorized clerk or officer. ★
(2) Letters appointing a guardian of an infant’s property must have §§ 1719 and 1720 attached or printed on them.
(3) While the issuing court still has jurisdiction over the estate or matter, only that court may suspend, modify, or revoke its letters. ★

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.