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A02573 Actions:

BILL NOA02573A
 
01/19/2021referred to judiciary
05/07/2021amend and recommit to judiciary
05/07/2021print number 2573a
05/19/2021reported referred to rules
05/24/2021reported
05/24/2021rules report cal.84
05/24/2021ordered to third reading rules cal.84
06/01/2021passed assembly
06/01/2021delivered to senate
06/01/2021REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
06/10/2021SUBSTITUTED FOR S294A
06/10/20213RD READING CAL.522
06/10/2021PASSED SENATE
06/10/2021RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY
10/13/2021delivered to governor
10/22/2021signed chap.486
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A02573 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A2573A
 
SPONSOR: Fall
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the surrogate's court procedure act, in relation to removing the prohibition on individuals convicted of a felony that prevents them from being appointed fiduciary of an estate   PURPOSE: The intent of this legislation is to allow those who have served their sentence the ability to become executor or executrix of their family estate. Current law prevents anyone convicted of a felony to become a fiduciary of an estate, even if the deceased parent/family member(s) name said individual executor to the estate. This legislation also gives latitude to the court to still judge on certain cases where the prior conviction was associated with fraud, embezzlement or whose crime may be averse to the welfare of the estate.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1. Paragraphs (d) and (e) of subdivision 1 and subdivision 2 of section 707 of the surrogate court procedure act, paragraph (e) as amended by chapter 514 of the laws of 1993, are amended and a new subdi- vision 3 is added, Interpreter. Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.   JUSTIFICATION: It is important for persons preparing their estate plan to prepare a Will and Trust and to nominate the persons they want to act as execu- tors, executrix or trustees. In most instances the court respects the choices made by the creator of the document and appoints the nominated parties. It is detrimental to grieving families when an individual is prohibited from acting as an executor due to his or her conviction after paying their debt to society. State laws govern probate and surrogate courts, not federal law, so the rules can vary a great deal from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. For example, in New Jersey and Oregon, there are no laws stating that a convicted felon can't serve as executor of an estate. In New Jersey, this applies even if the named executor is still in jail when the testa- tor dies. In other states, such as Illinois and New York the law specif- ically states that a convicted felon can't serve under any circum- stances. Courts may be more likely to remove an executor or bar him from taking office if the nature of his crime is specifically averse to the welfare of the estate. For example, if the conviction was for embezzlement, this might create trust issues relating to the executor's involvement with the estate's finances. If the conviction was drug-related and had noth- ing to do with misappropriation of money, a court might be more likely to overlook it   PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: Referred to Judiciary: 01/08/2020 Amended and recommitted to Judiciary: 09/09/2020 Amended and recommitted to Judiciary: 05/05/2021   FISCAL IMPACT: None.   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.
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