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How Long Do You Have to Transfer Property After Death in New York?
New York has no statute that requires a deed to be recorded, a co-op share certificate reissued, or title otherwise transferred within a set number of days, months, or years after an owner dies. A house can stay in a deceased parent's name for a decade without anyone being fined for the delay. That is the literal answer to the question. It is also an incomplete one. Several other clocks start running at death or at the appointment of an executor, and missing them has consequences: a nine-month window to disclaim an inheritance, a nine-month estate tax return deadline, a seven-month creditor period that controls when a fiduciary can safely convey, and practical problems that grow the longer the property sits in the decedent's name, including lapsed insurance, lost tax exemptions, and mortgage defaults.
This page covers the deadlines that do apply to New York property, how title to real estate and co-op apartments actually passes at death, and what goes wrong when a transfer is put off. For the court process itself, see our sample NYC probate timeline and our page on estate administration without a will.
The deadlines that do exist after a New York death
There is no deadline to transfer title. There are deadlines for decisions and filings that affect who ends up with the property and what it costs them.
| Clock | Time limit | Governing rule | What it affects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer of deed or title | None | No New York statute imposes one | Only practical consequences, discussed below |
| Offering a will for probate | None | SCPA Article 14 | A will can be probated years after death, but proof gets harder as witnesses die |
| Qualified disclaimer (renunciation) | Nine months from death; court may extend for reasonable cause | EPTL 2-1.11; IRC 2518 for tax effect | Whether an heir can refuse the property so it passes to the next taker |
| Federal estate tax return (Form 706) | Nine months from death; six-month extension available | IRC 6075 | Estates above the federal exclusion ($13,990,000 for 2025 deaths, adjusted annually) |
| New York estate tax return (ET-706) | Nine months from death; extension available | Tax Law Article 26 | Estates above the New York basic exclusion ($7,160,000 for 2025 deaths); the tax is a lien on real property until paid or released |
| Spousal right of election | Six months after letters issue, and no later than two years after death | EPTL 5-1.1-A(d) | A surviving spouse's claim to one-third of the net estate |
| Creditor claims | Seven months from first issuance of letters | SCPA 1802 | When the fiduciary may distribute without personal liability |
| Payment of legacies | Not required before seven months after letters; general legacies bear 6% interest after that | EPTL 11-1.5 | When beneficiaries can demand their share |
| Compelling an accounting | On petition of an interested person; courts generally expect seven months to have passed | SCPA 2205 | Forcing a slow fiduciary to report and distribute |
The two nine-month deadlines deserve emphasis for anyone inheriting real estate. A disclaimer under EPTL 2-1.11 must be filed with the Surrogate's Court and served within nine months of death. An heir who takes possession, collects rent, or signs a deed has accepted the property and can no longer disclaim it. Estate tax returns are due nine months from death regardless of whether letters have issued or the house has been transferred. New York's estate tax also has a cliff: an estate more than 5% over the basic exclusion loses the exclusion entirely and is taxed from the first dollar.
How title to New York real estate passes at death
In New York, title to real property vests in the devisees named in the will, or in the distributees under EPTL 4-1.1 if there is no will, at the moment of death. The executor or administrator does not take title. The fiduciary holds a power over the property. Under EPTL 11-1.1(b)(5), a fiduciary may sell, mortgage, or lease estate real property without a court order unless the will says otherwise. That power does not reach real property specifically devised in the will, except as needed to pay administration expenses, debts, and taxes.
Vesting at death explains why there is no deadline. The heir already owns the property as a matter of law. What the heir lacks is proof of ownership that a buyer, lender, or title insurer will accept. A will that has not been admitted to probate transfers nothing of record. A distributee under intestacy owns a share but cannot show who the distributees are without letters of administration or, in limited situations, an affidavit of heirship that a title company is willing to rely on.
The deed, in other words, is not what transfers ownership. It is what makes ownership marketable. Until it is recorded, the heir can live in the property but usually cannot sell it, refinance it, or borrow against it. See borrowing against inherited property.
The five ways New York property changes hands after death
1. Executor's deed after probate
Once the will is admitted and letters testamentary issue, the executor signs an executor's deed conveying the property to the devisee or to a buyer. Title companies will usually not insure a deed signed by the devisee alone, even though the devisee holds title, because the fiduciary's power of sale and the estate's unpaid debts cloud the devisee's interest. If the executor conveys before the seven-month creditor period under SCPA 1802 has run, the purchaser's title company may ask for proof that known debts, funeral expenses, and taxes have been paid, or require the executor to hold back funds.
Before probate is complete, a preliminary executor under SCPA 1412 or a temporary administrator under SCPA 901 may be appointed. Those letters often carry restrictions, and selling real property under them usually requires express authority in the letters or a separate court order.
2. Administrator's deed when there is no will
An administrator appointed under SCPA Article 10 has the same EPTL 11-1.1 powers as an executor, but Surrogate's Courts frequently issue letters of administration with a restriction under SCPA 805(3) barring sale or mortgage of real property without further court order. If that restriction appears on the letters, the administrator petitions to lift it before signing an administrator's deed. SCPA Article 19 (SCPA 1901 through 1923) provides a separate court-supervised proceeding for disposing of real property for the purposes listed in SCPA 1902: paying administration and funeral expenses, debts, and taxes, and distributing proceeds among distributees when the property cannot be fairly divided in kind. The distributees receive notice and may object.
Administration also takes longer than probate when kinship must be proved, and no transfer can happen until the court is satisfied about who the distributees are.
3. Survivorship: joint tenants and tenants by the entirety
If the deed created a joint tenancy with right of survivorship, or a tenancy by the entirety between spouses, the survivor owns the whole property at the moment of death. No deed, probate, or letters are required. Under EPTL 6-2.2, a deed to two or more people who are not spouses creates a tenancy in common unless it expressly declares a joint tenancy, so the words on the existing deed decide whether this route is available. A deed to spouses creates a tenancy by the entirety unless it says otherwise. One timing rule applies: under EPTL 2-1.6, a co-owner must survive the other by 120 hours to take as survivor.
Nothing requires the survivor to record anything. In practice, the survivor records a certified death certificate, often with a short affidavit of survivorship, in the county where the property lies so that the public record shows a single owner. If the survivor waits, the next buyer's title company will require the same proof at closing. Our page on a house in two names covers the difference between joint tenancy and tenancy in common in more detail.
4. Transfer-on-death deed under RPL 424
Since July 19, 2024, New York permits a transfer-on-death deed under Real Property Law 424. The owner signs a deed naming one or more beneficiaries, acknowledges it before a notary, has it witnessed by two people, and records it in the county where the property is located before death. The deed does nothing during the owner's life. The owner keeps full control, can sell or mortgage the property, and can revoke or replace the deed by recording a new instrument. At death the beneficiary takes the property outside probate, subject to any mortgage, lien, or other encumbrance of record. A transfer-on-death deed that was not recorded before the owner's death is ineffective.
After the death, the beneficiary records proof of death in the same county. There is no statutory deadline to do so, but until it is recorded the beneficiary faces the same marketability problems as any other heir. RPL 424 applies to real property. A co-op apartment, which is personal property held as shares and a proprietary lease, is not covered.
5. Trustee's deed from a revocable trust
Property deeded into a revocable trust during life passes under the trust instrument. The successor trustee signs a trustee's deed to the trust beneficiary or to a buyer, usually within weeks. See how to avoid probate in New York for when this makes sense.
Co-op apartments follow different rules
A New York co-op is not real estate. The decedent owned shares in a corporation and a proprietary lease. Transferring them requires the cooperative to cancel the old stock certificate and issue a new one, and that requires letters testamentary or letters of administration. Many proprietary leases allow a transfer to a surviving spouse or adult child with limited board review, but the board can still require financial disclosure, and a transfer to anyone else, or a sale by the estate, requires the same board approval as any purchase.
Maintenance continues to accrue after death. The estate must pay it. If no one does, the cooperative holds a lien on the shares and can pursue the arrears against the estate or, after default, terminate the lease. Transfer tax forms (New York State TP-584 and, in New York City, the NYC-RPT) are filed on co-op transfers even when the transfer is to a beneficiary for no consideration, and many cooperatives charge a flip tax on sales. Co-op boards are not bound by the seven-month creditor period and will not wait for it; the board wants a fiduciary with letters and a complete application. See getting access to an apartment after a death.
Small estate proceedings do not cover real estate
New York's voluntary administration procedure under SCPA Article 13 is limited to personal property worth $50,000 or less, not counting property set off to a spouse or minor children under EPTL 5-3.1. Real property cannot pass through a small estate affidavit, no matter how modest its value. If the only asset is a house or a share in a house, the estate needs full probate or administration, or the property must have passed outside the estate by survivorship, transfer-on-death deed, or trust.
Paperwork that must accompany a New York deed from an estate
Recording an executor's, administrator's, or trustee's deed in New York requires the same transfer documents as any conveyance:
- Form TP-584: the New York State combined real estate transfer tax return. A conveyance to a devisee or distributee for no consideration owes no state transfer tax, but the form is still filed with the deed. In New York City the TP-584-NYC version is used.
- Form RP-5217: the real property transfer report, or RP-5217NYC inside the city. The assessor uses it to update ownership records, which matters for the exemption issues discussed below.
- NYC-RPT: the New York City real property transfer tax return, filed through ACRIS for city properties.
- Form ET-117 (release of lien): New York estate tax is a lien on the decedent's real property under Tax Law 982 for up to fifteen years after death. Title companies require either a release of lien from the Tax Department or, for estates below the filing threshold, an affidavit that no New York estate tax is due.
- Certified letters: a current certificate of letters testamentary or administration, usually dated within six months of closing.
What happens if you wait too long
No statute punishes delay. The following consequences do.
Property tax exemptions lapse and back taxes accrue
The STAR exemption under RPTL 425, the senior citizens exemption under RPTL 467, and veterans exemptions under RPTL 458-a are personal to the owner who qualified for them. With limited exceptions for a surviving spouse, they do not transfer to heirs. An exemption that keeps appearing on the bill after the owner's death because no one told the assessor can be clawed back as a corrected assessment. A new owner must register for the STAR credit with the Tax Department in his or her own name, and cannot do that until the deed is recorded.
Unpaid property taxes are the more serious problem. New York City sells tax liens on properties with unpaid taxes or water charges, and the lien purchaser can foreclose. Outside the city, the county can foreclose directly under RPTL Article 11. Neither process waits for probate.
Homeowner's insurance stops covering the loss
The named insured on the homeowner's policy is dead. Standard policies extend coverage to the legal representative for a limited period and only as to the insured premises. Most policies also contain a vacancy clause that excludes vandalism, water damage, and other losses after the property has been empty for 30 or 60 days. An heir who waits a year, then suffers a burst pipe, may find the claim denied. The fiduciary should notify the carrier promptly and, if the house is empty, obtain a vacant property or estate policy.
The mortgage does not pause
Death does not accelerate a conventional mortgage on a one-to-four family home when the property passes to a relative. The federal Garn-St Germain Act, 12 U.S.C. 1701j-3(d), bars the lender from enforcing a due-on-sale clause on a transfer by devise, descent, or operation of law to a surviving joint tenant, a transfer to a relative resulting from the borrower's death, a transfer to a spouse or children, or a transfer into a living trust in which the borrower remains the beneficiary. Federal mortgage servicing rules also require the servicer to recognize a confirmed successor in interest and communicate with that person about the loan.
Protection from acceleration is not protection from default. If no one makes the monthly payment, the servicer can foreclose, and in New York it may do so against the estate by naming the fiduciary or the distributees. A reverse mortgage is different: a HECM becomes due and payable on the death of the last borrower (subject to deferral for an eligible non-borrowing spouse), and HUD rules generally give the heirs about six months, with extensions of up to a year, to sell, refinance, or pay off the loan before the servicer forecloses.
Medicaid estate recovery
If the decedent received Medicaid after age 55, the Department of Social Services has a claim against the probate estate under Social Services Law 369. Recovery is deferred while a surviving spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or disabled child is living. New York limits recovery to the probate estate, so property that passed by survivorship or transfer-on-death deed is generally outside it. Property that is still in the decedent's name is squarely inside it. Leaving the estate unopened does not make the claim go away. If the family does not petition, a creditor, including DSS, can petition the Surrogate's Court for letters of administration and reach the house itself.
Heirs die, and the chain of title fractures
This is the most expensive consequence of delay. Suppose a mother dies owning a house, leaving three children, and no one opens an estate. Ten years later one child dies, leaving a spouse and two children of his own. Now the house has five owners, one of whom may live out of state, and two estates must be opened before anyone can sign a marketable deed. Each additional death adds another estate, another set of distributees to locate, and often a need for successor letters or ancillary letters. Proving the original will also gets harder as attesting witnesses die or cannot be found. When co-owners who barely know each other cannot agree, the result is often a partition action, in which a court orders the house sold.
Occupancy disputes
A house left in a decedent's name invites one relative to move in and the others to resent it. Questions about rent, upkeep, and who has the right to enter are covered on our pages about access to a house after death and a beneficiary living in an inherited house.
Capital gains
Inherited property takes a basis equal to its fair market value at the date of death under IRC 1014. That is a benefit, but it means every year of appreciation after death is taxable gain to the heirs when they eventually sell. An heir who never lives in the house does not qualify for the principal residence exclusion. The cost here is not a penalty for delay, but it does grow with it.
Where the seven-month creditor period fits in
The seven-month period under SCPA 1802 is the rule most often cited when people ask how long a transfer takes. It governs the fiduciary's liability, not the heir's ownership. Creditors have seven months from the first issuance of letters to present claims. A fiduciary who distributes after that period, having investigated in good faith and paid debts in the priority set by SCPA 1811, is not personally liable to a creditor who surfaces later; a fiduciary who distributes earlier, or who ignored a claim he should have known about (as in Matter of Bailey, 147 Misc.2d 46 (Sur. Ct. 1990)), is. For a house, the practical effect is that a conveyance to a devisee or a sale to a third party is safest after the seven months have run, and a buyer's title company will often insist on it or on proof that debts are covered.
The period does not bar partial distributions where the estate clearly has enough to cover known obligations, and it does not apply at all to property that passed outside the estate. It also does not limit tax claims, which carry their own rules. The investigation steps a fiduciary should take, and the receipt and release beneficiaries sign at distribution, are covered on our probate timeline and estate accountings pages.
How long each route actually takes
| Route | Typical time to a recorded transfer | Governing rules | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small estate (voluntary administration) | Weeks to a few months | SCPA Article 13 | Personal property of $50,000 or less only; cannot transfer real estate or co-op shares above the limit |
| Probate with a will | Letters often in two to six months depending on the county and whether all distributees sign waivers; transfer commonly nine to eighteen months after death | SCPA Article 14, SCPA 1802, EPTL 11-1.1 | Executor's deed; title company may require the seven-month period to run |
| Administration without a will | Similar to probate, often longer when kinship must be proved or a bond is required | SCPA Article 10, EPTL 4-1.1, SCPA Article 19 | Administrator's deed; letters may restrict real property sales without court order |
| Joint tenancy or tenancy by the entirety | Immediate at death; recording the death certificate can be done any time | EPTL 6-2.2, EPTL 2-1.6 | No probate; survivor may need to clear estate tax lien at next sale |
| Transfer-on-death deed | Immediate at death; beneficiary records proof of death | RPL 424 | Deed must have been recorded before death; real property only |
| Revocable trust | Weeks | Trust instrument; EPTL Article 7 | Trustee's deed; property must have been deeded to the trust during life |
| Co-op through the estate | Letters plus board review; frequently six to twelve months or more | SCPA Articles 10 and 14; proprietary lease | Maintenance accrues throughout |
These ranges reflect common experience in the New York City and Long Island Surrogate's Courts and vary with the court's calendar, the completeness of the petition, and whether anyone objects.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a penalty for not transferring a deed after a death in New York?
No statutory penalty exists. The costs of delay are lost exemptions, insurance gaps, mortgage default, tax foreclosure risk, Medicaid claims that do not expire, and a chain of title that gets more expensive to repair with every passing year and every additional death.
Can a house stay in a deceased person's name indefinitely?
Legally, yes. Practically, the heirs cannot sell it, refinance it, insure it in their own names, or claim their own tax exemptions until the transfer is of record. If the house is the main asset of the estate, opening the estate within the first year avoids most of the problems described above.
Do I need probate if my parent's house is the only asset?
Yes, unless the house passed outside the estate by survivorship, a transfer-on-death deed, or a trust. New York's small estate procedure does not reach real property.
Can the executor sell the house before the seven months are up?
The executor has the power to do so under EPTL 11-1.1 once letters issue, unless the will or the letters restrict it. The risk is personal liability if an unknown creditor appears within the seven months and the estate has already paid out the proceeds. Buyers' title companies know this and commonly require either that the period has run or that enough is held in escrow to cover known debts, expenses, and estate tax.
My spouse and I owned our home together. Do I have to do anything?
If the deed shows you as husband and wife or as joint tenants with right of survivorship, you own the home now. Nothing is required. Recording a certified death certificate with an affidavit of survivorship is advisable so the record is clean before you sell or refinance, and you should tell the insurer and the lender.
Does a New York transfer-on-death deed have a deadline?
The deed must be recorded before the owner dies. After the death, the beneficiary has no deadline to record proof of death, but the usual costs of delay apply. The nine-month disclaimer deadline under EPTL 2-1.11 also applies to a beneficiary who wants to refuse the property.
What if the decedent owned property outside New York?
Real estate is governed by the law of the state where it sits. A New York executor usually needs ancillary letters in that state before conveying out-of-state property, and that state's own deadlines and recording rules apply.
Getting the transfer done
Executors, administrators, surviving co-owners, and heirs who have waited and now need to clear title to a New York house or co-op can get help from the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin. We handle probate and administration proceedings, Article 19 petitions, executor's and administrator's deeds, estate tax releases of lien, and the disputes that arise when co-owners disagree about a property that has sat too long in a decedent's name. We have offices in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Call 212-233-1233 or email [email protected] to discuss your situation.
About the Author
Albert Goodwin Esq. is a licensed New York attorney with over 18 years of courtroom experience. His extensive knowledge and experience make him well-qualified to write authoritative articles on a wide range of legal topics. He can be reached at 212-233-1233 or [email protected].
