§ 4-1.1 — Descent and distribution of a decedent's estate

New York § 4-1.1

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law EPT: Estates, Powers & Trusts
• Part 1: Rules Governing Intestate Succession
• Art. 4: Descent and Distribution of an Intestate Estate

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§ 4-1.1 Descent and distribution of a decedent's estate\n The property of a decedent not disposed of by will shall be\ndistributed as provided in this section. In computing said distribution,\ndebts, administration expenses and reasonable funeral expenses shall be\ndeducted but all estate taxes shall be disregarded, except that nothing\ncontained herein relieves a distributee from contributing to all such\ntaxes the amounts apportioned against him or her under 2-1.8.\nDistribution shall then be as follows:\n (a) If a decedent is survived by:\n (1) A spouse and issue, fifty thousand dollars and one-half of the\nresidue to the spouse, and the balance thereof to the issue by\nrepresentation.\n (2) A spouse and no issue, the whole to the spouse.\n (3) Issue and no spouse, the whole to the issue, by representation.\n (4) One or both parents, and no spouse and no issue, the whole to the\nsurviving parent or parents.\n (5) Issue of parents, and no spouse, issue or parent, the whole to the\nissue of the parents, by representation.\n (6) One or more grandparents or the issue of grandparents (as\nhereinafter defined), and no spouse, issue, parent or issue of parents,\none-half to the surviving grandparent or grandparents of one parental\nside, or if neither of them survives the decedent, to their issue, by\nrepresentation, and the other one-half to the surviving grandparent or\ngrandparents of the other parental side, or if neither of them survives\nthe decedent, to their issue, by representation; provided that if the\ndecedent was not survived by a grandparent or grandparents on one side\nor by the issue of such grandparents, the whole to the surviving\ngrandparent or grandparents on the other side, or if neither of them\nsurvives the decedent, to their issue, by representation, in the same\nmanner as the one-half. For the purposes of this subparagraph, issue of\ngrandparents shall not include issue more remote than grandchildren of\nsuch grandparents.\n (7) Great-grandchildren of grandparents, and no spouse, issue, parent,\nissue of parents, grandparent, children of grandparents or grandchildren\nof grandparents, one-half to the great-grandchildren of the grandparents\nof one parental side, per capita, and the other one-half to the\ngreat-grandchildren of the grandparents of the other parental side, per\ncapita; provided that if the decedent was not survived by\ngreat-grandchildren of grandparents on one side, the whole to the\ngreat-grandchildren of grandparents on the other side, in the same\nmanner as the one-half.\n (b) For all purposes of this section, decedent's relatives of the half\nblood shall be treated as if they were relatives of the whole blood.\n (c) Distributees of the decedent, conceived before his or her death\nbut born alive thereafter, take as if they were born in his or her\nlifetime.\n (d) The right of an adopted child to take a distributive share and the\nright of succession to the estate of an adopted child continue as\nprovided in the domestic relations law.\n (e) A distributive share passing to a surviving spouse under this\nsection is in lieu of any right of dower to which such spouse may be\nentitled.\n