Lewis County Surrogate's Court E-filing Protocol

The Administrative Judge of the 5th Judicial District, the Surrogate of Lewis County, and the Chief Clerk of the Lewis County Surrogate Court hereby promulgate local user protocols to assist users in practice of the New York State Courts E-filing System (NYSCEF) implemented in the Lewis County Surrogate Court in accordance with the program established by the Chief Administrator of the Courts pursuant to Uniform Rules §207.4-a and §207.4-aa and provide guidance with respect to local practice and procedures used to process filings, fees, and court calendaring. Users should also review the NYSCEF website (www.nycourts.gov/efile). These Protocols do not supersede any statutory or regulatory provisions regarding electronic filing as those are controlling and take precedence.

At the discretion and direction of the Surrogate, these proceeding types are NOT accepted for filing:

NOTE: File "Article 83 Interstate Guardianship Transfer proceedings (UAGPPJA)" in the same court that would take the filing if originated in New York.

All other Surrogate's Court proceeding types are accepted for MANDATORY E-filing in Lewis County unless an exemption applies.

• Exemptions Rules §207.4-aa(e) may be granted upon filing of NYSCEF Form SCM-2,Notice of Opt-Out from Participation in Proceeding Subject to Electronic filing.
• Unrepresented parties are always exempt from mandatory e-filing but may elect to participate. If an unrepresented party commences or consents in an e-filed matter, a NYSCEF Form SCM-5, Notice of Intent to Cease E-filing, must be filed to cease participating.
• Once e-filing has begun, ALL documents must be e-filed, and the court may reject any hard copyitem not annexed with NYSCEF Form SCM-3,Notice of Hard Copy Submission.
• Annex NYSCEF Form SCM-3, Notice of Hard Copy Submission, to the document or item when submiting: a document with application for its Sealing; an oversized exhibit or one unsuited for electronic filing, such as a large map or a CD; or a sealed and conspicuously labeled "For In Camera Review" submission. Such Notice must be annexed when the item is served upon the other parties in hard copy, and NYSCEF Form SCM-4, Notice of Hard Copy Exhibit filing, must be e-filed when applicable.

NOTE: filings are not complete until payment is received at court AND the review process is complete.

General Guidelines for E-filing with Lewis County Surrogate's Court:

• NYSCEF and WebSurrogate are different websites. We hope you use both!
  • WebSurrogate: ALL Public Records since 2014 are available for viewing, emailing, and printing via NYS WebSurrogate. Wills for Safekeeping are searchable. Old Index records are searchable. Attention Researchers: Lewis County WebSurrogate records are accessible over the court’s intranet from a public research terminal in any NYS Surrogate’s Court. Check with your local Surrogate’s court to see if they permit state-wide searching and save yourself a trip!
  • NYSCEF: shows ONLY e-filed records, and can be used for e-filing, serving consented parties,printing, and paying by credit card. Attention attorneys/staff: We use the COMMENTS tab in NYSCEF to provide feedback. Check the Comments tab periodically until you receive our “File review complete” comment, especially if you’re wondering, “What’s going on with my filing?”
• Search the records of the court by NAME before you commence e-filing for a new matter. If a matter already exists in WebSurrogate but not in NYSCEF, you can still e-file – contact NYSCEF customer service for assistance if necessary: 646-386-3033 or nyscef@nycourts.gov.
• NYSCEF permits a “Pay at Court” option, but we may reject your filing if payment is not received within seven (7) business days.
• If a prior, paper-only record exists, we may, if/as time permits, be able to upload the prior-filed paper records upon request. Note: paper records converted to NYSCEF display the date of conversion rather than their actual filing dates. Actual filing dates remain viewable on WebSurrogate.
• Review & Notifications: We provide feedback to the filer and pause case processing until the review item(s) are resolved.
  • Corrections to e-filed documents will be requested on the NYSCEF COMMENTS tab or, more rarely, via direct email or telephone.
  • Submit corrected page(s) via scan/email to the court staff person assigned to monitor the review. Please do NOT use NYSCEF to deliver corrections to items you’ve already filed.
  • If the corrective information is already known to the court, we may request your emailed consent for handwritten changes made with attorney and staff initials. You may decline to consent to handwritten changes and instead provide a corrected page(s) via scan/email.
  • Once corrections are received, the court will update both the review Comment and the document image. Re-print the document for your records if/as needed.

Lewis County Local Practices Whether or Not E-filing:

Request for Surrogate’s Court Action Form – not required, we prefer not to receive this form.

Working Copies – not required here.

NYS Attorney Certification Form - required of attorneys filing a new proceeding petition.

Birth/Death Certificates – e-file front AND back electronically. We will request the original if necessary.

Wills, Codicils, Exemplified Documents from other courts – we MUST receive the ORIGINAL after e-filing. We may require a Staple Affidavit if the original has been unstapled.

Decrees, Orders, Judgments are signed by the Surrogate in hard copy and filed into the electronic record by the Clerk for transmission back to attorneys/e-filers. Originals are kept in the Court file. Proposed Decrees may be submitted but are not required in routine estate and guardianship matters. We do prefer Proposed Decrees in Compromise/Wrongful Death, Trust, Accounting, and Miscellaneous filings.

Motions may be filed electronically, and there is no fee to file a Motion in Surrogate’s Court. Petitions e-filed as Motions will be rejected for improper filing.

Raised seal and court-certified documents are provided in hard copy by mail or made available for in-person pick-up. The court cannot prepare Certificates of Appointment until payment is received.

NYS Family Tree Form – submit both pages. Include prior spouse information when applicable, including date of divorce or death, and differentiate which children belong to which spouse. Do not include issue of living siblings or issue of living children. If a distributee has predeceased the decedent, include their date of death and indicate their issue. On page 2, we require the names of the Father and Mother and note as applicable “living” or “predeceased” with date of death if known; we do not require older generations unless necessary to determine distributees.

NYS Affidavit in Relation to Settlement of Estate Under Article 13, commonly called VOLAD or Voluntary/Small Estate – filer must supply pre-addressed, postage-affixed envelopes for Notices or we may request additional payment for postage.

NYS DTF Waiver & Consent– DTF is a statutory party in many filings, and instructions for seeking their Waiver & Consent can be found on the State form website, NYS DTF AU-67, Instructions to Request a Waiver of Citation and Consent. In Ancillary proceedings, we reject the Stipulation Reserving Domicile when decedent’s SSN is not redacted prior to e-filing.

Common NYSCEF mistake: Petition for Administration CTA is a PROBATE filing type (because there is a Will). You will NOT be able to select Administration CTA if you choose case type = Administration.

Payment options - filing fees are calculated in accordance with SCPA §2402. If not paid online through NYSCEF, pay us by check or money order in-person or by postal mail. If paying in-person with cash, we suggest bringing exact change. Payment by debit/credit card is only available online or in person.

Virtual appearance requests for this court are personally reviewed by the Surrogate. Email the Chief Clerk directly to request virtual appearance.

This document was last updated on April 10, 2026

Lewis County Surrogate Court

Hours: Monday - Friday, 08:30AM - 04:30PM except for court holidays
Contact: Phone 315-570-2438, Fax 315-671-6082
Email the Chief Clerk directly at cmoyniha@nycourts.gov

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