Updated September 7, 2026. Quick answer: In New York, new York inverts the usual default for a named executor: under SCPA § 710, no bond is required of an executor unless the will itself requires one, unless a testamentary trust under § 806 requires one, or unless the court orders one under § 710 itself; separately, SCPA § 801 exempts an executor, administrator, administrator c.t.a., administrator d.b.n. or temporary administrator from bond when the estate qualifies as a small estate.
Does New York require an executor to post a bond?
New York inverts the usual default for a named executor: under SCPA § 710, no bond is required of an executor unless the will itself requires one, unless a testamentary trust under § 806 requires one, or unless the court orders one under § 710 itself; separately, SCPA § 801 exempts an executor, administrator, administrator c.t.a., administrator d.b.n. or temporary administrator from bond when the estate qualifies as a small estate.
“No bond shall be required of an executor unless required by the will or by 806 or by this section.”
Source: N.Y. Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act §§ 708, 710, 801
Can the will waive it in New York?
Yes. The statutory baseline for an executor is already no-bond; the will’s role is inverted from most states; it is the instrument that can impose a bond requirement that would not otherwise exist, rather than one that waives an existing default.
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Can the heirs or beneficiaries waive it in New York?
Sometimes. SCPA § 801 grants an automatic no-bond exemption below the small-estate dollar threshold regardless of heir action. Secondary sources describe a distinct SCPA § 805 mechanism letting all distributees consent in writing to dispense with an intestate administrator’s bond, but that specific section was not independently fetched and quoted this session.
If a bond is required, how much?
When a bond is required, SCPA § 801(1)(a) sets an executor’s or administrator’s bond at not less than the value of all personal property receivable by the fiduciary, plus estimated gross rents of real property for 18 months, plus the probable recovery in any cause of action, unless the court reduces or dispenses with it.
“Not Less Than: i. Value of all personal property receivable by the fiduciary. ii. Estimated gross rents…for 18 months. iii. Probable recovery in any cause of action”
Source: N.Y. SCPA § 801(1)
What makes New York different
New York is the outlier in this set for actually flipping the default: rather than bond being required and then waived, an executor named in a will starts with no bond obligation at all, and only the will’s own express language (or a testamentary trust) turns bond on. Intestate administrators are treated differently and lean toward bond being required absent an exemption.
A note on sourcing: The executor default (SCPA § 710) and the small-estate exemption (SCPA § 801) were fetched directly from the official nysenate.gov consolidated-laws site this session. The distributee-consent detail for administrators under SCPA § 805 is drawn from secondary legal-blog/court-PDF summaries found via a general web search, not from a directly fetched and quoted section this session, so it is flagged as lower-confidence.
| Bond-requirement source | N.Y. Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act §§ 708, 710, 801 |
| New York courts (general reference) | New York judicial branch |
| New York Secretary of State / legislature | New York state government |
| New York legislature (additional reference) | New York legislature |
| Confidence | Medium |
Every statute quoted on this page was read directly from the state’s own legislature/code site this session, or, where that site blocked automated access, from a reputable legal-citation mirror quoting the same official text with its official citation (disclosed below). General information, not legal advice; a probate court has final discretion over bond in every state; confirm your own case with the court or a local attorney before relying on the default described here.
Related: how long creditors have to file a claim against an estate in New York.