Initially, the Surrogate’s Court was a creature of the Legislature but the people of the State of New York made the Surrogate’s Court a constitutional court granting it jurisdiction over all actions and proceedings relating to the affairs of the decedents, probate of wills, administration of estates and actions and proceedings arising thereunder or pertaining thereto. (Article 6, Section 12(d) effective September 1, 1962.)
When discovery proceedings were enacted as a result of the Bennett Commission’s work in the late 1960s under SCPA 2103 and 2104, the sections allowed fiduciaries to discover only money and personal property, not real property, debts or chose in action. Nevertheless, the Surrogates under numerous decisions indicated that the court had jurisdiction in discovery proceedings beyond what was specifically provided for under SCPA due to the broad jurisdiction provided for under the Constitution. It was the Surrogates’ position that the Legislature could not take back what the people granted to the Surrogates Court. Some Appellate Courts questioned the Surrogates’ determinations but ultimately the matter was resolved by the Court of
Appeals in Matter of Piccione, 57 NY2d 278, 456 NYSupp2d 669, 442 NE 2d 1180 (1982), which upheld the Surrogate’s broad jurisdiction concerning discovery proceedings. Subsequently, the Legislature
amended SCPA 2103 by L. 1993, c 514, Section 48 effective January 1, 1994 whereby it substituted money and personal property for property as defined under
Section 103 of SPCA. Under Subdivision 44 thereof property is anything that may be the subject of ownership in real or personal property and choses in action.
Accordingly, under present law, the Surrogate’s Court has jurisdiction through the Constitution and now by statute to entertain proceedings by fiduciaries to recover any type of property that would belong to an estate. Like jurisdiction is afforde
d under SCPA 2105 when one seeks to recover from an estate property that one contends belongs to him or her.