SCPA § 901

When temporary administration may be granted Temporary administration may be granted if the court finds it is in the best interests of th... · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 901. When temporary administration may be granted

Temporary administration may be granted if the court finds it is in the best interests of the estate in the following cases:

1. When for any cause delay occurs in the grant of letters on the estate of a decedent or a person alleged to be deceased or in the probate of his or her will.

2. When a person having an interest in property in this state has disappeared and is absent from his or her place of abode without being heard of after diligent inquiry. Such person shall be referred to as an absentee.

3. When a person having an interest in property in this state has been made a prisoner of war or has been detained or interned by an enemy country or in an enemy-occupied country or by force, or imprisoned in this country, a foreign country, whether legal or illegal, and who is thereby unable to safeguard and care for his property in this state. Such person shall be referred to as an internee.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/SCP/901

In plain English

The court may appoint a temporary administrator when that would serve the estate’s best interests.

(1) Appointment is available when letters or probate are delayed for a decedent or person alleged dead.
(2) It is available for an absentee who owns an interest in New York property, disappeared from home, and cannot be located or heard from after diligent inquiry. ★
(3) It is available for an internee unable to protect New York property because of war captivity, enemy detention or internment, forcible detention, or imprisonment in this or another country. ★

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.