Bronx County Surrogate’s Court

Bronx County Surrogate’s Court deals with estates, trusts, guardianships and adoptions of people who reside or have property in Bronx, New York.

Address

Bronx County Surrogate’s Court
851 Grand Concourse
Bronx, NY 10451

Main Phone: 718-618-2300

Phone Number Directory

Directions to Bronx County Surrogate’s Court

SUBWAY: 4, D and B trains to 161st  Street/Yankee Stadium. Metro-North train service to Connecticut and Westchester County at the 125th Street subway stop.

BUSES: BX 6, BX 13 and BX 55 buses stop at 161st St./Grand Concourse, in front of the building. The BxM4 express bus service from Manhattan stops at 161st Street / Grand Concourse.

Hours of Work

Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Some clerks can leave early at the end of the day and can be on a break during lunchtime. Also, trying to file things at the end of the day is not a good idea, especially on a Friday.

The court is closed on all state holidays.

Judge of Bronx County Surrogate’s Court

Hon. Nelida Maláve-González. Judge Gonzalez has been the Bronx County Surrogate’s Court judge since the year 2012. She has previously served as the Judge for the New York Civil Court.

Judge Nelida Maláve-González has a staff of clerks who help her analyze cases and conduct pre-trial, scheduling and settlement conferences.

Michael P. Hausler
Chief Clerk
718-618-2300

Elix R. Madera-Fliegelman
Deputy Chief Clerk

Bronx County County Surrogate’s Court Departments

Bronx County Surrogate’s Court deals through its various departments with the following matters:

Probate – Bronx County Surrogate Court handles estate proceedings involving a will. That’s why some people call it “Bronx Probate Court.” Most probate proceedings are uncontested – the person who brings in the will (the proponent) submits the will, has their New York estate lawyer fill out the appropriate paperwork and files the original will in the Bronx Surrogate’s Court, together with a petition, original death certificate, funeral bill, and accompanying affidavits and notices. The court will set a date for the hearing on the probate of the will, and if no one appears then the court will grant the probate. If someone does appear, then the estate is contested and the examinations of the attesting witnesses and the attorney-draftsman of the will are scheduled and the cases go on a contested track.

Estate Administration – Bronx County Surrogate Court handles estates where the person who died did not have a will. The person who is the closest relative of the deceased is appointed as the administrator of their estate. If the decedent is survived by a spouse, the spouse is usually appointed as the administrator. If no spouse, then children. And so on.

Cashier Department deals with Certificates, Certifications, and Record Searches.

Guardianship – this department handles Guardianships. There are two kinds of guardianships – those involving a mentally disabled (special needs) minor (those guardianships are known as 17-a), and guardianships of older adults who have become mentally incompetent due to some illness (this is known as Mental Health Law Article 81 guardianships)

Adoptions – Bronx County Surrogate’s Court handles adoptions, whether regular adoptions, step-parent and family adoptions and adoptions from foreign countries, involving both infants and older children.

Accountings – this department handles accountings filed by executors and administrators of estates and trustees of trusts. Accountings are usually compelled by beneficiaries interested in the trust or an estate, through a Miscellaneous proceeding.

Record Room – Records are available on the computers located in the record room and on the computer. It is not possible to access those records online through the internet without an attorney account.

You can request information about an estate by writing them a letter with the correct legal name of the person who died, and include a check for $30 made out to Bronx County Surrogate’s Court, and either a return stamped envelope or your email address to receive the information.

Bronx County Inventory of Assets Department – deals with an inventory of assets, which is to be filed no later than 9 months of the date letters issued to fiduciary.

Bronx County Miscellaneous Proceedings – Bronx County Surrogate’s Court Miscellaneous department handles Affidavits of Service and Applications to Open Safe Deposit Boxes and Sealed Apartments. It also handles other proceedings, such determining kinship in an estate that has distant relatives, advice and direction, compel fiduciary to account, compel the production of a will or a trust, proceedings by a Bronx fiduciary to discover property, proceeding to remove executor, proceeding to remove administrator, proceeding to remove trustee, proceeding by fiduciary of estate to discover property, etc. Fees for those proceedings can be found here.

If you need an attorney for representation in the Bronx County Surrogate’s Court, we at the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin are here for you. You can call us at 212-233-1233 or send us an email at [email protected].