Today, Linda Maryanov (a New York trusts & estates lawyer) shared the following information from Diana Sanabria, the Chief Clerk of the New York County Surrogate's Court:
Starting on Monday, November 6, NY County Surrogate’s Court records will be available on WebSurrogate. There are several big differences between the web-based version of the database and the public one that is available in the Court’s Record Room:
1. No documents filed before 2/19/14 can be viewed on WebSurrogate. The documents will be listed, but they cannot be opened.
2. The following types of records are also listed but not viewable:
a. Inventories
b. Accountings
c. Documents filed as “Other Document”
d. Proposed documents (ie, Proposed Citation, Proposed Decree)
3. The documents in #1 and #2 are still viewable in the Record Room.
4. Restricted documents and impounded documents are treated the same as they are in the old public database. Restricted documents are listed, but they cannot be opened. Impounded documents do not show up.
5. There is still no great way to search for samples. You can search for the most broad documents (Probate Petition, Administration Petition, etc), but the date range is limited to the past 30 days. If someone is looking for a sample document, it is still preferable that they visit the Record Room.
6. If people need certified or exemplified copies, please have them contact the Record Room as not everything listed can be certified.
Previously, as I wrote on 8/4/2023, the records of New York County Surrogate's Court were available online only at NYSEF. (I updated my earlier post to reflect the latest information.)
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