Which statement about the use of forms in the Surrogate's Court is not correct?

Which statement about the use of forms in the Surrogate's Court is not correct?

• A. No judge may provide forms other than the official forms for use in his county.
• B. The state administrator of the state of New York has the power to adopt, amend and rescind an appendix of forms.
• C. Forms adopted pursuant to this section shall be sufficient under the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act and shall be accepted for filing in all of the surrogate's courts.
• D. If any judge provides forms other than the official forms for use in his county, the use of such forms shall not be required instead of the official forms.

Answer: (A)

The use of forms in Surrogate’s Court is meant to balance standardization with local flexibility. The statement that no judge may provide forms other than the official forms is not correct because the law permits judges to provide forms beyond the official ones for use in their county, as long as those non-official forms are not required in place of the official forms. In practice, the state administrator has the power to adopt, amend, and rescind an appendix of forms, creating a consistent set of documents for use across the Surrogate’s Courts. Forms adopted under this authority are considered sufficient under the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act and should be accepted for filing in all surrogate’s courts. If a judge does offer non-official forms, their use is optional and not mandatory to replace the official forms. This preserves uniformity while allowing local or special-purpose forms to exist without undermining the standard forms.

The use of forms in Surrogate’s Court is meant to balance standardization with local flexibility. The statement that no judge may provide forms other than the official forms is not correct because the law permits judges to provide forms beyond the official ones for use in their county, as long as those non-official forms are not required in place of the official forms.

In practice, the state administrator has the power to adopt, amend, and rescind an appendix of forms, creating a consistent set of documents for use across the Surrogate’s Courts. Forms adopted under this authority are considered sufficient under the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act and should be accepted for filing in all surrogate’s courts. If a judge does offer non-official forms, their use is optional and not mandatory to replace the official forms. This preserves uniformity while allowing local or special-purpose forms to exist without undermining the standard forms.