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Who cares
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Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to judiciary
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the estates, powers and trusts law, to authorize a spouse to waive or release his or her right of election after the death of his or her spouse
Purpose
To allow a surviving spouse to waive his or her right of election in the estate of his or her spouse after their death.
Summary of provisions
Section one amends Estates, Powers and Trusts Law § 5-1.1-A(e)(1) to authorize a spouse to waive his or her right of election after the death of his or her spouse.
Section two provides that the act shall take effect 30 days after enactment.
Justification
Current law provides spouses with what is called a "right of election" in the estate of a deceased spouse. This right of election prevents spouses from being completely disinherited. While current law permits spouses to waive the right of election, the right of election can only be waived while both spouses are alive.
The inability of the surviving spouse to waive the right of election after the passing of the decedent can unnecessarily delay the administration of an estate. A surviving spouse has an absolute right to exercise the right of election until six months from the date of issuance of letters testamentary or letters of administration by the surrogate's court, but no more than 2 years after the death of the deceased spouse. As long as there is a potential for the exercise of a right of election, the other beneficial interests in an estate will remain uncertain until the right of election issues are resolved. The potential for the exercise of a right of election can also create uncertainty with regard to the need to file an estate tax return and with regard to the amount of tax that may be due. The current law also creates a level of uncertainty for Medicaid planning. This proposal, which would simply provide a surviving spouse with the option to waive the right of election after the death of the deceased spouse, could largely resolve these issues.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
30 days after enactment
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.