Monroe County Surrogate Edmund A. Calvaruso has extended the time of an objectant to a will to file objections even though the Surrogate Court Procedure Act normally provides that this take place within ten days of the examination. In the Matter of Kryk  2007 NY Slip Op 50966(U) which was decided on May 10, the Surrogate balanced the published time limits set forth in the black letter law with the responsibility of the court to make a proper determination as to the validity of the will.

The court opined that it has an obligation to conduct an examination sufficient to enable it to be satisfied that the will submitted is the genuine will of the decedent. In this instance, the referee assigned to the case directed that the objections be filed not within ten days of the examinations of the witnesses to the will conducted pursuant to section 1404 of the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act but within ten days of the receipt of a transcript of the examination. The court found that the delay was not "purposeful" on the part of counsel and that the lawyers had been corresponding about the objections and that the delay of a few days was not prejudicial.