SCPA 1802: Presenting a Claim Against a New York Estate — Deadlines and Procedure

When a person dies in New York owing money — an unpaid loan, an unpaid invoice, back rent, a caregiver's wages, a judgment — the creditor cannot simply demand payment from the family. The debt becomes a claim against the estate, and New York law channels that claim through a specific procedure governed by Article 18 of the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act (SCPA). The centerpiece of that procedure is SCPA 1802, which establishes the well-known seven-month rule for presenting claims to the estate's executor or administrator.

This page explains, in plain language, what SCPA 1802 actually does (and does not do), how to properly present a claim under SCPA 1803, what happens when a claim is rejected, the critical 60-day rule of SCPA 1810, the order in which debts are paid under SCPA 1811, and the mistakes that most often cost creditors their recovery.

What SCPA 1802 Says in Plain Language

SCPA 1802 provides that a fiduciary (the executor of a will or the administrator of an intestate estate) may require creditors to present their claims within seven months from the date letters are issued by the Surrogate's Court. The practical meaning is this:

• If a creditor presents a written claim within seven months of the issuance of letters, the fiduciary must deal with it — allow it, reject it, or reserve for it — before distributing the estate to beneficiaries.
• If a creditor presents a claim after seven months, the claim is not automatically barred. However, the fiduciary is protected: a fiduciary who has already distributed estate assets in good faith before the late claim arrived is not personally liable to that creditor for the assets already paid out.

This is the single most misunderstood point in New York estate creditor practice. The seven-month period is not a statute of limitations. A late claim is still legally valid if the underlying debt is valid and timely under the CPLR. But a late claimant may find that the estate has been emptied, leaving only the far more difficult remedy of pursuing the beneficiaries who received distributions — a separate proceeding against people who may have already spent the money.

A Worked Example of the Seven-Month Rule

Suppose letters testamentary are issued to an executor on March 1, 2024. The seven-month presentation period runs through October 1, 2024.

• A contractor owed $40,000 presents a written claim on June 15, 2024. The executor must address this claim before distributing the estate. If the executor distributes without paying or reserving for it, the executor can be held personally liable for the $40,000 in a later accounting proceeding.
• The same contractor instead presents the claim on December 10, 2024, after the executor distributed a $300,000 estate to three beneficiaries in November. The executor, having acted in good faith after the seven months expired, is protected under SCPA 1802. The contractor's remedy is to pursue the three beneficiaries for their proportionate shares of the $40,000 — a slower, costlier path.

What Counts as a Claim

Article 18 covers claims that arose against the decedent before death or against the estate itself, including:

• Contract debts: personal loans, promissory notes, unpaid invoices, credit accounts
• Unpaid rent, services rendered, or wages (including claims by home health aides and caregivers)
• Judgments entered against the decedent
• Tort claims (personal injury or property damage caused by the decedent)
• Contingent or unliquidated claims — claims not yet fixed in amount, addressed by SCPA 1804, which permits the court to require the fiduciary to retain a reserve

Distributive shares and bequests are not "claims" — a beneficiary demanding an inheritance proceeds under different provisions. Similarly, funeral expenses and administration expenses are treated as preferred charges against the estate under SCPA 1811 rather than as ordinary creditor claims.

How to Present a Claim: SCPA 1803

SCPA 1803 governs the form and method of presentation. Getting this wrong is a common and avoidable error.

Form of the Claim

• The claim must be in writing.
• It must state the facts upon which the claim is based and the amount claimed.
• The fiduciary may require the claimant to support the claim with an affidavit stating that the claim is justly due, that no payments have been made on it, and that there are no offsets or counterclaims against it. A claimant who ignores such a demand risks the claim being disregarded.

Method of Delivery

The claim must be delivered personally to the fiduciary or sent by certified mail, return receipt requested. If mailed, presentation is effective upon receipt, not upon mailing. A phone call, an email, or a conversation with a family member does not constitute presentation under the statute. Prudent claimants also file a copy of the claim with the Surrogate's Court so that the claim appears in the court file, though the statutory act of presentation is delivery to the fiduciary.

Timing

A claim may be presented as soon as letters issue. If no fiduciary has been appointed yet, a creditor may petition the Surrogate's Court for letters of administration in their own right as a creditor, or seek appointment of a fiduciary so that there is someone to present the claim to.

What Happens After Presentation: Allowance or Rejection (SCPA 1806)

Once a claim is presented, the fiduciary has three practical options:

1. Allow the claim. An allowed claim is paid in the order of priority set by SCPA 1811, ordinarily after the seven-month period expires so the fiduciary knows the full universe of claims.
2. Reject the claim, in whole or in part, by serving a written notice of rejection on the claimant. If the fiduciary doubts the justice or validity of a claim, SCPA 1806 directs the fiduciary to reject it in writing.
3. Do nothing. Silence is not an allowance. A claimant facing an unresponsive fiduciary may commence an action on the debt, or petition to compel an accounting under SCPA 2205, in which the claim will be heard and determined under SCPA 1808.

The fiduciary also has a proactive tool: under SCPA 1809, the fiduciary may petition the Surrogate's Court to determine the validity of a presented claim before the accounting, rather than leaving it unresolved.

The 60-Day Rule After Rejection: SCPA 1810

SCPA 1810 preserves a claimant's right to sue on the debt in any court of competent jurisdiction. But it attaches a critical condition: where a claim has been presented and rejected in whole or in part, an action on the claim must be commenced within 60 days after the rejection. A claimant who lets the 60 days pass is deemed to have consented to have the claim heard and determined in the Surrogate's Court accounting proceeding under SCPA 1808.

Two points deserve emphasis:

• Missing the 60-day window does not extinguish the claim. It forfeits the right to a separate plenary lawsuit and relegates the claimant to the accounting — which may not occur for years, and which the claimant may need to compel under SCPA 2205.
• Presenting a claim does not toll the statute of limitations on the underlying debt. A claimant who presents a claim and then waits passively can watch the CPLR limitations period expire even while the claim sits "pending" with the fiduciary.

Statutes of Limitations and the CPLR 210(b) Extension

The underlying debt must still be timely under the CPLR — six years for most contract claims (CPLR 213), three years for most property damage and personal injury claims (CPLR 214). New York law recognizes that death complicates enforcement, so CPLR 210(b) provides that the eighteen months after the debtor's death is not counted as part of the limitations period for commencing an action against the executor or administrator.

Example: A borrower defaults on a $25,000 promissory note on January 1, 2019, starting a six-year limitations period that would ordinarily expire January 1, 2025. The borrower dies on September 1, 2024, with four months left on the clock. Under CPLR 210(b), the eighteen months following death (through March 1, 2026) are excluded, so the creditor's remaining four months run from March 1, 2026 — the action against the estate is timely if commenced by approximately July 1, 2026.

Order of Payment: SCPA 1811

When the estate has enough assets, order of payment rarely matters. When it does not, SCPA 1811 controls which creditors are paid first:

If the estate is insolvent, creditors within the same class share pro rata. A fiduciary has no authority to prefer one general creditor over another, and no debt of any class may be paid until higher classes are satisfied or reserved for. Example: an insolvent estate holds $60,000 after funeral and administration expenses, with no preferred or tax debts, and general claims of $90,000 and $30,000. The two creditors share pro rata: $45,000 and $15,000 respectively.

Special Situations

The Fiduciary's Own Claim: SCPA 1805

An executor or administrator who is personally a creditor of the decedent — common where a child paid the parent's expenses — cannot simply pay themselves. Under SCPA 1805, the fiduciary's personal claim must be proved to and allowed by the court, typically in the accounting, where beneficiaries may object and the claim is scrutinized closely.

Proof Problems and the Dead Man's Statute

Under SCPA 1807 and CPLR 4519 (the Dead Man's Statute), a claimant is generally barred from testifying to personal transactions or conversations with the decedent when the testimony is offered against the estate. A claim resting entirely on "the decedent promised me" — with no writing, cancelled checks, invoices, or disinterested witnesses — frequently fails for lack of admissible proof. Claims for personal services rendered to a decedent are viewed with particular skepticism and must be established by clear and convincing evidence.

Common Pitfalls

• Treating seven months as a hard bar — creditors abandon valid late claims; conversely, fiduciaries wrongly assume they can ignore claims presented after seven months when assets remain undistributed.
• Informal presentation — an email or verbal demand is not presentation under SCPA 1803; use personal delivery or certified mail, return receipt requested, and keep proof.
• Missing the 60-day deadline after a written rejection, losing the right to a plenary action and waiting years for an accounting.
• Assuming presentation tolls the statute of limitations — it does not; calendar the CPLR deadline, adjusted for the CPLR 210(b) eighteen-month exclusion.
• Fiduciaries distributing early — paying beneficiaries before the seven months expire forfeits the good-faith protection of SCPA 1802 and exposes the fiduciary to personal liability for timely claims.
• Ignoring priority — a fiduciary who pays general creditors while preferred debts (such as federal taxes) remain unpaid may be personally liable for the shortfall.

Speak With a New York Estate Attorney

Whether you are a creditor trying to recover a debt from an estate or a fiduciary deciding how to respond to a presented claim, the deadlines under SCPA 1802, 1803, and 1810 are unforgiving of informality. Attorney Albert Goodwin represents creditors, executors, and administrators in claim presentation, rejection, and contested claim proceedings in the New York Surrogate's Courts, and can evaluate the validity, timeliness, and proof of a claim before critical deadlines pass.

Related resources on this site: do you inherit your parents’ debt, estate litigation.