What Is an Estate Accounting in New York?

By Albert Goodwin, Esq., Law Offices of Albert Goodwin, New York. This page is reviewed for changes to SCPA Article 22, the Uniform Rules for Surrogate's Court and the Surrogate's Court official forms.

An estate accounting is the fiduciary's sworn report of everything that happened to the estate's property during a stated period: what the executor or administrator received, what it was worth, what was sold and for how much, what was paid out and to whom, and what is left. In New York the document is governed by Article 22 of the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act (SCPA) and must follow the official Judicial Accounting forms, which is where the lettered schedules A through K come from. This page is the full explainer: the statutes, the schedules, a $600,000 estate worked through the arithmetic, what happens after the account is filed, and what a beneficiary should look for before signing anything. If you want us to prepare or review one, see our estate accounting services page.

The New York Law Behind an Estate Accounting

Several provisions do the work. You will see them referenced throughout this page.

• SCPA 2205 and 2206: who may ask the Surrogate's Court to compel a fiduciary to account, and the procedure the court follows when it orders one.
• SCPA 2208 and 2210: the fiduciary's own petition for judicial settlement of the account, and the list of persons who must be served with a citation.
• SCPA 2211: the right to examine the accounting fiduciary under oath, and to demand the estate's books and records, before objections are due.
• 22 NYCRR 207.40: the Uniform Rule requiring accounts to be presented in the form prescribed by the official Surrogate's Court forms.
• EPTL Article 11-A (the Uniform Principal and Income Act): the rules for deciding whether a receipt or expense belongs to principal or to income, which is why the schedules are split into a principal set and an income set.
• SCPA 2307 and 2309: the statutory commission rates for executors and administrators (2307) and for trustees (2309), computed on Schedule I.
• SCPA 2402: the filing fee for a petition to settle an account, which is based on the gross value accounted for.
• SCPA 1802 and EPTL 11-1.5: the seven-month creditor claim period after letters issue, which shapes when a final accounting is practical.

Who Can Require an Accounting, and When

A New York executor or administrator has no duty to file an account on a fixed calendar. Most estates close without a court proceeding: the fiduciary sends the beneficiaries an informal account and collects signed receipts and releases. A formal accounting happens in one of three ways.

1. Compulsory accounting under SCPA 2205. The court may, on its own initiative or on petition, order a fiduciary to file an intermediate or final account. The persons entitled to petition include a beneficiary or other person interested in the estate, a creditor, the fiduciary of a deceased person who was interested, a successor fiduciary, a surety on the fiduciary's bond, and the Public Administrator. Under SCPA 2206 the court first issues an order directing the fiduciary to show cause why an account should not be filed, and if the fiduciary has no good reason, directs the account to be filed within a set time and judicially settled.
2. Voluntary judicial settlement under SCPA 2208. A fiduciary who wants a court decree discharging them from liability files the account with a petition for judicial settlement. Fiduciaries do this when a beneficiary will not sign a release, when the administration was contentious, or when they simply want the protection of a decree.
3. Accounting required by circumstances. When a person entitled to a release cannot legally give one, a judicial accounting is usually unavoidable. Common examples are a minor beneficiary, a person under a disability, unknown or missing distributees, a charitable beneficiary (the Attorney General must be cited), and estates handled by the Public Administrator.

On timing: a beneficiary cannot expect the court to compel an account in the first weeks after appointment. Creditors have seven months from the issuance of letters to present claims (SCPA 1802), and the fiduciary is not required to pay legacies before that period runs (EPTL 11-1.5). Petitions to compel brought before the seven months have passed are generally treated as premature unless there is evidence of waste or misconduct. After seven months, the court will ordinarily order an account if the fiduciary has not provided information voluntarily.

The same rules apply to testamentary and lifetime trustees, who are "fiduciaries" under SCPA 103. Trust beneficiaries looking for the separate question of what information a trustee must share between accountings should read beneficiaries' rights to trust information.

Informal Accounting Versus Judicial Accounting

The distinction is where the account goes and how the fiduciary is released.

An informal accounting is delivered to the beneficiaries, not the court. It can be a letter with a summary and bank statements attached, or it can be the full set of official schedules. It is closed when every beneficiary signs a receipt, release and waiver. A release is binding, but it protects the fiduciary only as to what was disclosed. A release obtained without full disclosure, or from a beneficiary who was misled about the estate's assets, can be set aside.

A judicial accounting is filed in the Surrogate's Court of the county that issued the letters. Everyone listed in SCPA 2210 must be cited: the beneficiaries, unpaid creditors, the surety, the Attorney General if a charity has an interest, and anyone else whose interest is affected. Where a party is a minor or otherwise under a disability, the court appoints a guardian ad litem under SCPA 403 to review the account on that person's behalf; the guardian's fee is fixed by the court under SCPA 405 and ordinarily paid from the estate. In some situations SCPA 315 allows one person to represent others with the same interest, which reduces the number of parties who must be cited. The proceeding ends with a decree, and the decree is conclusive on every person who was cited or who appeared, as to every matter shown in the account.

The Official Schedules

Under 22 NYCRR 207.40 the account must follow the official forms published by the Office of Court Administration. The schedules are split into a principal group, an income group, and a set of informational schedules. The order below is the order they appear on the form.

The principal schedules must reconcile: A plus A-1, minus B, minus C, minus D, minus E, adjusted for F, equals G. The income schedules reconcile the same way: A-2 minus C-2 minus E-1 equals G-1. Schedule J then proves that G plus G-1 matches the actual bank and brokerage balances on the closing date of the account. If the numbers do not tie, the account is wrong somewhere, and the court clerk will return it before a citation ever issues.

A Worked Example: A $600,000 New York Estate

The figures below are illustrative. Assume the decedent died a resident of Queens, the will was admitted to probate, one executor was appointed, and the residuary estate passes equally to two adult children after a $10,000 cash legacy to a grandchild. The accounting period runs from the date letters issued to a closing date about 20 months later, after the co-op was sold and the creditor period and tax filings were completed.

Schedule A: Principal Received

Schedules A-1 and B: Gains and Losses on Sale

The co-op sold for $320,000, a gain of $20,000 over the appraised value. The brokerage securities were liquidated for $236,000, a gain of $6,000. Schedule A-1 totals $26,000. The automobile sold for $17,000, a loss of $3,000, which is the only entry on Schedule B.

Schedule C: Expenses Charged to Principal

Two points about Schedule C. First, each item must be supported by a paid invoice or cancelled check that the fiduciary can produce under SCPA 2211. Second, the executor's own commissions do not appear here until they are allowed; they are computed on Schedule I and either taken on the decree or, if taken earlier, shown with the court order or consents that authorized the advance under SCPA 2310 or 2311.

Schedule D: Creditors' Claims

Three claims were presented within the seven-month period and paid: a credit card balance of $4,000, final medical bills of $6,000, and the decedent's last personal income tax of $5,000. Schedule D totals $15,000 paid, with no claims rejected or pending.

Schedule E: Distributions of Principal

The $10,000 legacy to the grandchild was paid after the seven months ran. Each residuary beneficiary received a partial distribution of $150,000 once the co-op closed. Schedule E totals $310,000.

Schedule F and Schedule G: Reconciling to Principal on Hand

Schedule F is empty; the executor held sale proceeds in the estate's interest-bearing checking account and bought no new investments. Schedule G is the result of the arithmetic:

The Income Schedules

During the period the brokerage account and the estate checking account earned $9,000 in dividends and interest (Schedule A-2). The estate paid $1,000 in fiduciary income tax properly chargeable to income under EPTL Article 11-A (Schedule C-2). No income was distributed (Schedule E-1 is zero). Schedule G-1 shows $8,000 of income on hand.

Schedule J: Cash Reconciliation

The estate checking account statement on the closing date shows $234,000. Schedule J demonstrates that this equals $226,000 of principal (Schedule G) plus $8,000 of income (Schedule G-1). Schedule J also discloses anything the court needs to know that does not fit elsewhere: for example, that the estate was below the New York and federal estate tax filing thresholds, so no estate tax return was required and Schedule K is blank. For 2025 deaths the New York basic exclusion amount is above $7 million and the federal exclusion is above $13 million, so a $600,000 estate owes neither tax.

Schedule H and the Proposed Distribution

Schedule H lists the grandchild (paid in full), the two residuary beneficiaries, and the executor. The petition asks the court to allow commissions, approve the attorney's fees, and direct that the balance after commissions and any unpaid final expenses be split equally between the two children.

Schedule I: How the Commission Is Computed

SCPA 2307 fixes executor and administrator commissions on a sliding scale, and the statute splits each rate in half: one half for receiving principal, the other half for paying it out.

In the example, principal received is $623,000 ($600,000 plus $26,000 of gains, less the $3,000 loss). The receiving commission is $2,500 on the first $100,000, $4,000 on the next $200,000, and $4,845 on the remaining $323,000, a total of $11,345. Because this is a final account and every dollar will be paid out, the paying commission is the same $11,345, for a combined principal commission of $22,690. Income received and paid out is also commissionable under SCPA 2307 and is added in a full computation. Three further rules affect the number: specifically bequeathed property is excluded from the base (SCPA 2307(2)); real property that the fiduciary never sold and that passed directly to a devisee is excluded; and where there are two or more fiduciaries, SCPA 2307(5) determines whether each receives a full commission (estates of $300,000 or more, up to three fiduciaries) or whether they share one. Trustees account under SCPA 2309 instead, which uses annual commissions on the value of the trust plus a 1 percent commission on principal paid out. Our executor commission calculator runs these figures for a given estate.

Court Filing Fees and Other Costs

SCPA 2402 sets the fee for filing a petition for judicial settlement of an account according to the gross value of the estate accounted for.

The $600,000 estate above pays $1,250 to file its account. Beyond the filing fee, the estate ordinarily bears the cost of preparing the schedules (attorney or accountant time), the fee of any guardian ad litem fixed under SCPA 405, service of the citation (including publication if a party's address is unknown), and, in a contested proceeding, transcripts and expert fees. Attorney's fees paid from the estate are subject to court review under SCPA 2110 whether or not anyone objects to them. For a small estate these costs can take a large share of what is left, which is why fiduciaries of modest estates try hard to close by receipt and release rather than by decree.

What Delays a Final Accounting in New York

There is no fixed statutory deadline for a final account, and claims that one can be prepared in a set number of weeks are not reliable. The realistic constraints are these.

• The seven-month creditor window. A final account cannot sensibly be prepared until claims under SCPA 1802 are in and either paid or rejected.
• Estate tax clearance. If a federal Form 706 or New York ET-706 was required, fiduciaries wait for the IRS closing letter and the New York Department of Taxation and Finance closing letter before distributing the last of the estate and filing a final account. Those letters often arrive a year or more after the return is filed.
• Sale of real property or a co-op. The account cannot close until the sale closes and the proceeds are in the estate account. Co-op board approval adds its own delay.
• Final fiduciary income tax returns. The last Form 1041 and IT-205 are usually filed after the final distribution, so the account carries a reserve for them on Schedule C-1.
• Citation service. Every person listed in SCPA 2210 must be served. Missing heirs, out-of-state or overseas parties, and parties requiring publication push the return date out.
• Guardian ad litem review. Where a minor or incapacitated party is involved, the guardian must review the records and file a report before the court will sign a decree.

Executors who keep an estate-only bank account from day one, retain every closing statement, invoice and brokerage statement, and log the purpose of each check will find the account a matter of assembly rather than reconstruction. See a sample NYC probate timeline for where the accounting falls in the overall sequence.

After the Account Is Filed: Citation, Objections and Decree

Once the petition and account are filed and the filing fee paid, the court issues a citation with a return date. On or before the return date each cited party may do one of three things: file a waiver and consent, do nothing (which is treated as a default and the account is settled as to that party), or appear and contest.

A party who wants to contest does not have to object blind. SCPA 2211 allows the party to examine the fiduciary under oath about the account and to require production of the books, bank statements, cancelled checks, contracts of sale and other papers behind each schedule. This examination happens before objections are due, and courts routinely adjourn the objection deadline until it is complete.

Objections are written, filed with the court and served on the fiduciary. Typical objections are that an asset known to the family is missing from Schedule A, that property was sold below value or to an insider, that expenses on Schedule C were personal to the fiduciary or excessive, that a claim on Schedule D should not have been paid, that income was misallocated to principal in a way that shortchanges an income beneficiary under EPTL Article 11-A, or that commissions on Schedule I were computed on property that is not commissionable. After objections, the proceeding is litigated like any other contested matter: disclosure under CPLR Article 31 (made applicable by SCPA 102), motions, and a hearing before the Surrogate. The objectant bears the initial burden of showing that the account is incomplete or inaccurate; once that showing is made, the fiduciary must prove the item was proper.

If the objections succeed, the court can surcharge the fiduciary, meaning it directs the fiduciary to restore the loss from personal funds, with interest. The court may also reduce or deny commissions, disallow attorney's fees that benefited the fiduciary rather than the estate, and in serious cases revoke letters under SCPA 711 or 719. The grounds and remedies for misconduct are covered separately on breach of fiduciary duty and removal of an administrator or executor.

When objections are resolved or none are filed, the court signs a decree judicially settling the account. The decree fixes commissions and fees, directs the final distribution, and discharges the fiduciary as to everything shown in the account. It binds every party who was cited or appeared. The practical consequence for a beneficiary is that a question not raised before the decree is, with narrow exceptions for fraud or newly discovered assets, lost.

A Beneficiary's Review Checklist

If you have received an account, informal or judicial, work through it against your own knowledge of the decedent's affairs before you sign a release or let the return date pass.

• Schedule A completeness. Compare the asset list to the decedent's tax returns, bank mail and any inventory filed with the court. Jointly held accounts and accounts with named beneficiaries pass outside the estate and will not appear; everything else should.
• Valuations and sale prices. Ask for the appraisal behind each Schedule A figure and the contract and closing statement behind each sale on A-1 or B. A sale to the fiduciary, a relative of the fiduciary or a business connected to the fiduciary is a conflict that must have been disclosed.
• Expenses on Schedule C. Each item should have an invoice. Look for travel, meals, personal bills, home repairs that benefited a resident relative rather than the sale, and legal fees for work that served the fiduciary personally.
• Claims on Schedule D. A claim paid after the seven-month period, or a claim from a family member, deserves a closer look.
• Income versus principal. If the will or trust gives income to one person and principal to another, confirm that receipts and expenses were allocated under EPTL Article 11-A rather than in whatever way favored the fiduciary.
• Commissions on Schedule I. Recompute them. Check that specific bequests and unsold real property were excluded, that the half-and-half split was applied, and that no commission was taken before the decree without a court order or consent.
• The reconciliation on Schedule J. Confirm that the stated balances match the actual statements as of the closing date, and that the closing date is recent.
• Distributions on Schedule E. Confirm that advance distributions were equal among those with equal shares, or that any inequality is explained.

If any of these raise a question, request the supporting documents in writing before signing anything. If the fiduciary refuses, that refusal is itself a basis for a compulsory accounting under SCPA 2205. For the procedure and strategy of contesting a filed account, see objections to an estate accounting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a beneficiary demand an accounting from an executor in New York?

Yes. A beneficiary is a "person interested" under SCPA 2205 and may petition the Surrogate's Court to compel the executor or administrator to file an account. The court will usually not act until seven months have passed since letters were issued, because that is the creditor claim period, unless there is evidence that estate property is being wasted or diverted.

How long does an executor have to provide an accounting in New York?

No statute sets a fixed deadline for a final account. In practice an executor is expected to be in a position to account once the seven-month creditor period has run, assets have been collected and any required estate tax return has been filed. If an executor has not accounted after a reasonable period and will not provide information on request, a beneficiary can petition under SCPA 2205 and the court will set a deadline by order.

What is Schedule J in an estate accounting?

Schedule J is the "Statement of Other Pertinent Facts and Cash Reconciliation." It proves that the principal on hand (Schedule G) plus the income on hand (Schedule G-1) equals the actual balance in the estate's bank and brokerage accounts on the closing date, and it discloses facts the court needs that have no other home, such as whether an estate tax return was required, whether any claims are still pending, and whether the fiduciary has taken advance commissions.

What is the difference between an informal and a judicial accounting?

An informal accounting is given directly to the beneficiaries and closed by signed receipts and releases. A judicial accounting is filed in Surrogate's Court under SCPA 2208, every interested person is cited under SCPA 2210, and the proceeding ends in a decree that binds everyone cited. The schedules can be identical; the difference is the forum and the form of release.

Does signing a receipt and release end my right to object?

As to the matters disclosed in the account you were given, generally yes. A release can be set aside if the fiduciary concealed assets or transactions, misrepresented the account, or obtained the signature by pressure, but you should expect to have to prove that. Review the account with counsel before signing rather than after.

Preparing or Reviewing a New York Estate Accounting

We prepare judicial and informal accountings for executors, administrators and trustees in the Surrogate's Courts of New York City, Long Island and the surrounding counties, and we review and object to accountings on behalf of beneficiaries. For details on our services, see estate accounting lawyers. To discuss your situation, call the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin at 212-233-1233 or email [email protected].