New York State Court of Chancery

Chapter 12 of the Laws of 1788 gave the Court of Chancery the responsibility for overseeing the well being and property of persons deemed idiots or lunatics and infant trustees (persons under the age of 21 whose person and estate are under the care of a trustee of guardian). This responsibility was extended to habitual drunkards by Chapter 109 of the Laws of 1821. The power of the Chancellor to appoint a committee or receiver for an idiot or lunatic is derived from English precedent. His power to appoint guardians for an infant was conferred by Chapter 106 of the Laws of 1815.

Court with jurisdiction on cases of equity in the state of New York from 1777 to 1847. It served also as a court of appeal which reexamined cases decided by the New York State Supreme Court. The Court of Chancery was abolished by the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1846, which reorganized the New York state judicial system.

Most records in this series are on parchment. A law of 1801 allowed the use of paper in place of parchment in court proceedings and changed the method by which decrees were enrolled. In the mid-nineteenth century the Court of Appeals compiled the present series from pre-1800 parchment and paper documents that the Court of Chancery had not incorporated into its filing system.

Chapter 75 of the Laws of 1830 incorporated the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company and stipulated that the Court of Chancery could appoint this institution as a guardian for infants whose estates yielded an annual income exceeding $100. The court used the Trust Company as a depository for the monies of infants and for other purposes.

After 1829, Courts of Equity were known as Chancery Circuits.

A court of chancery existed in New York from 1683 to 1847. Patterned after the English Court of Chancery, which traced its origins back to medieval jurisprudence, the Chancery court dealt with matters of equity rather than law.

The English system of equity emerged during the late Middle Ages in response to several defects in the rigidly prescriptive English common law. Litigants sought to redress the defects in the common law through the Chancellor, the King's chief legal advisor and head of the Chancery (the government's writing office). Chancellors responded to petitions to the King, including those requesting remedies not available at law or redress for grievances arising out of miscarriages of justice. The power to issue writs and hear petitions was the basis of the Chancellor's judicial authority.

By the end of the seventeenth century equity had evolved into a system of jurisprudence distinct from but complementary to common law. The Court of Chancery did not often encroach into areas which were adequately handled by courts of law such as criminal cases and torts. It held exclusive jurisdiction, however, where the common law was silent such as in matters involving trusteeships, mortgages, mercantile law, women's property rights, and family property settlements.

The first court in New York to bear the title "Court of Chancery" was established in 1683 at the first session of the colonial legislature (Chapter 7, Laws of 1683). This court consisted of the Governor assisted by his Council and any officers he wished to appoint. The Governor or his designee served as Chancellor. He appointed a Master of the Rolls, who kept the minutes of the court and served as vice-chancellor in his absence, and two Clerks who handled the court's paperwork. Like the Court of Assizes, the Court of Chancery was the colony's court of last resort in common law matters as well as a court of equity. In October 1688 New York was incorporated into the newly formed Dominion of New England, a royal colony created by King James II, previously the Duke of York. Under the act creating the Dominion equity was vested in the Royal Governor or his appointee.

In 1691, the year New York was restored to separate provincial status, a court of chancery composed of the Royal Governor and Council was established by the Assembly (Chapter 4, Laws of 1691). This High Court of Chancery was granted exclusive equity jurisdiction in the colony. In 1699 the High Court of Chancery was abolished. Two years later the British Board of Trade ordered the erection of a High Court of Chancery in New York. An ordinance establishing such a court was approved by the provincial Council that same year. A Council ordinance on 2 June 1702 suspended the operations of the court but in 1704 it was re-established by ordinance. Because the court was not established by legislative enactment its legality was questioned and it remained a subject of political controversy for the next three decades. However, it remained in operation in provincial New York until 1783 when the British evacuated New York City.

The members of the High Court of Chancery were the Royal Governor acting as Chancellor, his advisory Council and the officers of the court: a Register, who recorded the minutes of the court and acted as secretary to the Chancellor; a Clerk, who handled most of the paperwork involved in cases including the filing of papers submitted by solicitors and the issuance of routine process; a Sergeant-at-Arms who was the enforcement or police officer of the court, serving its process and implementing its orders; Masters, who conducted investigations and performed various administrative functions for the courts; and Examiners, who examined witnesses.

During the colonial period much of the litigation in the court concerned commercial relations. These cases often involved disputes over accounting for profits or money received (usually between business partners) or controversies over bills of exchange, bonds, contracts, insurance policies, and fraud. Mortgages and real property were also frequent subjects of litigation as were suits involving the execution of a will or other family property agreement. Filling out the equity practice were requests for the discovery of evidence or property on which a judgment was levied, orders for the specific performance of the terms of a contract or other agreements, the appointment of guardians, and injunctions of various kinds. The High Court of Chancery also entertained suits for the collection of quit rents and the vacating of land patents issued by the provincial government. The New York State Constitution of 1777 recognized and continued the courts and law which had existed in the colony. The constitution, however, did establish the Court for the Trial of Impeachments and Correction of Errors as the State's new court of last resort. The constitution provided for the appointment of a Register and Clerks in Chancery. Robert R. Livingstion was elected New York State's first Chancellor by the constitutional convention but all subsequent Chancellors were appointed by the Council of Appointment.

The Court of Chancery was organized by a 1778 act of the State Legislature (Chapter 12, Laws of 1778). (From 1778 until 1783 the State Court of Chancery co-existed with the provincial High Court of Chancery.) The latter retained jurisdiction in the British-occupied areas of New York.) The officers of the State's court were the Chancellor, Masters, a Register, Clerks in Chancery, Examiners, and a Sergeant-at-Arms, all of whom functioned in a manner similar to their colonial predecessors. Before the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783 the Court convened infrequently. After 1783 the Court of Chancery usually held three sessions a year at New York City, one at Albany, and additional sessions at the Chancellor's discretion (usually at the Livingston family seat at Clermont).

During the first decade of the nineteenth century the State Legislature mandated a number of important changes in court procedure and administration. In 1801 it allowed the use of paper instead of parchment in court proceedings. It also changed the method of enrolling a decree from engrossing its text on parchment to filing a paper copy of the decree with the other documents relevant to the case. The case file thus created was the enrollment (Chapter 133, Laws of 1801). Chapter 15 of the Laws of 1802 created a central record keeping office for the court in the persons of the Register and the newly-created position of Assistant Register. The Register was directed to maintain a permanent office in either New York City or Albany. All the records and books of the court were filed in this office. This provision legally recognized an administrative practice required by the rules of the court since the 1790's. The law also required the Chancellor to hold at least two eight-day terms in New York City and two in Albany. In addition, it abolished the position of Sergeant-at-Arms and transferred enforcement duties to the county sheriffs.

In 1804 what came to be known as the "Chancery Fund" was established. The Register and Assistant were given responsibility for handling funds which came into the custody of the court through fees, performance bonds, and cases involving contested estates and the estates of incompetents (lunatics, idiots, and minors). They were to deposit these funds in either the Bank of New York or the Bank of Albany or invest them in stocks, securities, and mortgages. The Register and Assistant Register were also required to submit their accounts to the court on the first day of every term (Chapter 58, Laws of 1804).

During the period of the first state constitution (1777-1821) the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery was expanded and clarified in the areas of family relations and competency. A 1787 law transferred the power to grant divorces from the Assembly to the court (Chapter 69). An 1813 statute expanded this jurisdiction to include the power to grant annulments and legal separations (Chapter 102). Following traditional English practice, New York's Court of Chancery had been responsible since colonial times for protecting the persons and estates of those mentally deficient from birth ("idiots"), those who suffered from mental illness ("lunatics"), and minors in the care of a legal guardian ("infant-trustees"). Chapter 12 of the Laws of 1788 statutorily recognized this responsibility and the Chancellor's right to appoint a committee to supervise the financial and personal affairs of a lunatic or idiot.

In 1813 the legislature gave the Court of Chancery special jurisdication over the management of the property and finances of religious institutions incorporated by New York State (Chapter 60). The treasurer, trustee, or other official of such a church or religious corporation was responsible for reporting triannually on the finances of his institution and submitting an inventory of church property to the Court of Chancery or other court of record. The Chancellor was also authorized, upon the application of a religious corporation, to order the sale of church owned real estate.

The State Constitution of 1821 greatly changed the administration of equity in New York. Article 5, section 5 authorized the establishment of judicial circuits, each presided over by a circuit judge with powers equal to those of a justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature. Each circuit judge was also vested with equity powers within their circuits subject to the appellate jurisdiction of the Chancellor. All statutes applicable to the Court of Chancery would apply to the new court. The Chancellor shared equity jurisdiction within the circuits with the circuit judges and also exercised appellate jurisdiction over them. He alone, however, had the authority to hear causes involving parties from different circuits or out of state. Chapter 182 of the Laws of 1823 created an equity court administratively independent of the Chancellor and with a jurisdiction overlapping that of the Court of Chancery.

In 1823 the Court of Probates was abolished and its appellate jurisdiction transferred to the Court of Chancery (Chapter 70). The Chancellor was not to entertain appeals from the county surrogate's courts. These courts handled the probating of wills and matters concerning the administration of estates and certain guardianships. The same year the officers of Clerks in Chancery in New York City and Albany were abolished and their duties and records transferred to the Register and Assistant Register (Chapter 269). Solicitors were now to file their papers directly with the Register or Assistant Register. The law further centralized and streamlined the record keeping functions of the court. The same legislation also ordered chancery funds on deposit at the Bank of New York transferred to the Manhattan Company.

The Revised Statutes of 1829 changed the administrative structure of equity again by creating a uniform statewide system under the direction of the Chancellor. The Court of Equity was eliminated but the eight circuit judges retained equity jurisdiction in their circuits. In this capacity, however, they were designated "Vice Chancellors" and were now officials of the Court of Chancery subject to the authority of the Chancellor. During the period of the second state constitution the Court of Chancery exercised a growing jurisdiction over business corporations and banks. Chapter 325 of the Laws of 1825 gave the court wide powers over corporations adjudged insolvent or in violation of their charters in the Supreme Court of Judicature. The Revised Statutes of 1829 continued the provisions of Chapter 325 of the Laws of 1825 and further expanded the jurisdiction of the Chancellor over corporations. The 1829 legislation establishing the Banking Commission and a Safety Fund to protect bank depositors and creditors added to the court's responsibilities in regard to insolvent banks (Chapter 94).

During the last decades of the court's existence the state legislature frequently gave it special jurisdication over individual cases, including matters involving estates, insolvent corporations, Federal land acquisition, and Shaker children. Such jurisdictions usually expired when the cases were closed. Between 1832 and 1845 the laws incorporating railroads generally empowered the Chancellor or a Vice Chancellor to adjudicate disputes over the price to be paid for right-of-way land.

The State Constitution of 1846 abolished the Court of Chancery as of 1 July 1847. The law implementing the constitution's judicial reforms transferred all the records of the Court of Chancery and its circuits to the Court of Appeals except those in the custody of the Assistant Register (Chapter 280, Laws of 1847). These records, including those of the 1st Circuit, were deposited with the Clerk of the city and county of New York. Original jurisdiction for most matters of equity was given to the County Courts. The new Supreme Court was to be the highest court of equity as well as law. It heard appeals from the County Courts and exercised essentially the same equity jurisdiction as had the Chancellor. The newly-established Court of Appeals replaced the Court for the Trial of Impeachments and Correction of Errors as the state's court of last resort.

In 1853 the Court of Appeals was empowered by law to enroll any outstanding final Chancery order or decree. Enrollment would put these instruments into effect and make them a record of the Court of Chancery. This statute completed the work of New York's already defunct Court of Chancery (Chapter 421).

A law of 1788 (Chapter 28) required judicial officers (construed to include lawyers) to sign two oaths: one renouncing allegiance to any foreign king, prince, or potentate and swearing allegiance to the State of New York; and the other swearing to execute their office to the best of their ability.

Chapter 57 of the Laws of 1796 added an oath to uphold the United States Constitution and a law of 1816 (Chapter 1) added an anti-duelling oath to those already taken by lawyers. The State Constitution of 1821 replaced all previous oaths with one which swore to uphold the State and Federal Constitutions and to execute one's office to the best of one's ability. The requirement for an anti-duelling oath was repealed by a law of 1824 (Chapter 41).

A court of chancery existed in New York from 1683 to 1847. Patterned after the English Court of Chancery, which traced its origins back to medieval jurisprudence, the Chancery court dealt with matters of equity rather than law.

The English system of equity emerged during the late Middle Ages in response to several defects in the rigidly prescriptive English common law. Litigants sought to redress the defects in the common law through the Chancellor, the King's chief legal advisor and head of the Chancery (the government's writing office). Chancellors responded to petitions to the King, including those requesting remedies not available at law or redress for grievances arising out of miscarriages of justice. The power to issue writs and hear petitions was the basis of the Chancellor's judicial authority.

By the end of the seventeenth century equity had evolved into a system of jurisprudence distinct from but complementary to common law. The Court of Chancery did not often encroach into areas which were adequately handled by courts of law such as criminal cases and torts. It held exclusive jurisdiction, however, where the common law was silent such as in matters involving trusteeships, mortgages, mercantile law, women's property rights, and family property settlements.

The first court in New York to bear the title "Court of Chancery" was established in 1683 at the first session of the colonial legislature (Chapter 7, Laws of 1683). This court consisted of the Governor assisted by his Council and any officers he wished to appoint. The Governor or his designee served as Chancellor. He appointed a Master of the Rolls, who kept the minutes of the court and served as vice-chancellor in his absence, and two Clerks who handled the court's paperwork. Like the Court of Assizes, the Court of Chancery was the colony's court of last resort in common law matters as well as a court of equity. In October 1688 New York was incorporated into the newly formed Dominion of New England, a royal colony created by King James II, previously the Duke of York. Under the act creating the Dominion equity was vested in the Royal Governor or his appointee.

In 1691, the year New York was restored to separate provincial status, a court of chancery composed of the Royal Governor and Council was established by the Assembly (Chapter 4, Laws of 1691). This High Court of Chancery was granted exclusive equity jurisdiction in the colony. In 1699 the High Court of Chancery was abolished. Two years later the British Board of Trade ordered the erection of a High Court of Chancery in New York. An ordinance establishing such a court was approved by the provincial Council that same year. A Council ordinance on 2 June 1702 suspended the operations of the court but in 1704 it was re-established by ordinance. Because the court was not established by legislative enactment its legality was questioned and it remained a subject of political controversy for the next three decades. However, it remained in operation in provincial New York until 1783 when the British evacuated New York City.

The members of the High Court of Chancery were the Royal Governor acting as Chancellor, his advisory Council and the officers of the court: a Register, who recorded the minutes of the court and acted as secretary to the Chancellor; a Clerk, who handled most of the paperwork involved in cases including the filing of papers submitted by solicitors and the issuance of routine process; a Sergeant-at-Arms who was the enforcement or police officer of the court, serving its process and implementing its orders; Masters, who conducted investigations and performed various administrative functions for the courts; and Examiners, who examined witnesses.

During the colonial period much of the litigation in the court concerned commercial relations. These cases often involved disputes over accounting for profits or money received (usually between business partners) or controversies over bills of exchange, bonds, contracts, insurance policies, and fraud. Mortgages and real property were also frequent subjects of litigation as were suits involving the execution of a will or other family property agreement. Filling out the equity practice were requests for the discovery of evidence or property on which a judgment was levied, orders for the specific performance of the terms of a contract or other agreements, the appointment of guardians, and injunctions of various kinds. The High Court of Chancery also entertained suits for the collection of quit rents and the vacating of land patents issued by the provincial government. The New York State Constitution of 1777 recognized and continued the courts and law which had existed in the colony. The constitution, however, did establish the Court for the Trial of Impeachments and Correction of Errors as the State's new court of last resort. The constitution provided for the appointment of a Register and Clerks in Chancery. Robert R. Livingstion was elected New York State's first Chancellor by the constitutional convention but all subsequent Chancellors were appointed by the Council of Appointment.

The Court of Chancery was organized by a 1778 act of the State Legislature (Chapter 12, Laws of 1778). (From 1778 until 1783 the State Court of Chancery co-existed with the provincial High Court of Chancery.) The latter retained jurisdiction in the British-occupied areas of New York.) The officers of the State's court were the Chancellor, Masters, a Register, Clerks in Chancery, Examiners, and a Sergeant-at-Arms, all of whom functioned in a manner similar to their colonial predecessors. Before the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783 the Court convened infrequently. After 1783 the Court of Chancery usually held three sessions a year at New York City, one at Albany, and additional sessions at the Chancellor's discretion (usually at the Livingston family seat at Clermont).

During the first decade of the nineteenth century the State Legislature mandated a number of important changes in court procedure and administration. In 1801 it allowed the use of paper instead of parchment in court proceedings. It also changed the method of enrolling a decree from engrossing its text on parchment to filing a paper copy of the decree with the other documents relevant to the case. The case file thus created was the enrollment (Chapter 133, Laws of 1801). Chapter 15 of the Laws of 1802 created a central record keeping office for the court in the persons of the Register and the newly-created position of Assistant Register. The Register was directed to maintain a permanent office in either New York City or Albany. All the records and books of the court were filed in this office. This provision legally recognized an administrative practice required by the rules of the court since the 1790's. The law also required the Chancellor to hold at least two eight-day terms in New York City and two in Albany. In addition, it abolished the position of Sergeant-at-Arms and transferred enforcement duties to the county sheriffs.

In 1804 what came to be known as the "Chancery Fund" was established. The Register and Assistant were given responsibility for handling funds which came into the custody of the court through fees, performance bonds, and cases involving contested estates and the estates of incompetents (lunatics, idiots, and minors). They were to deposit these funds in either the Bank of New York or the Bank of Albany or invest them in stocks, securities, and mortgages. The Register and Assistant Register were also required to submit their accounts to the court on the first day of every term (Chapter 58, Laws of 1804).

During the period of the first state constitution (1777-1821) the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery was expanded and clarified in the areas of family relations and competency. A 1787 law transferred the power to grant divorces from the Assembly to the court (Chapter 69). An 1813 statute expanded this jurisdiction to include the power to grant annulments and legal separations (Chapter 102). Following traditional English practice, New York's Court of Chancery had been responsible since colonial times for protecting the persons and estates of those mentally deficient from birth ("idiots"), those who suffered from mental illness ("lunatics"), and minors in the care of a legal guardian ("infant-trustees"). Chapter 12 of the Laws of 1788 statutorily recognized this responsibility and the Chancellor's right to appoint a committee to supervise the financial and personal affairs of a lunatic or idiot.

In 1813 the legislature gave the Court of Chancery special jurisdication over the management of the property and finances of religious institutions incorporated by New York State (Chapter 60). The treasurer, trustee, or other official of such a church or religious corporation was responsible for reporting triannually on the finances of his institution and submitting an inventory of church property to the Court of Chancery or other court of record. The Chancellor was also authorized, upon the application of a religious corporation, to order the sale of church owned real estate.

The State Constitution of 1821 greatly changed the administration of equity in New York. Article 5, section 5 authorized the establishment of judicial circuits, each presided over by a circuit judge with powers equal to those of a justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature. Each circuit judge was also vested with equity powers within their circuits subject to the appellate jurisdiction of the Chancellor. All statutes applicable to the Court of Chancery would apply to the new court. The Chancellor shared equity jurisdiction within the circuits with the circuit judges and also exercised appellate jurisdiction over them. He alone, however, had the authority to hear causes involving parties from different circuits or out of state. Chapter 182 of the Laws of 1823 created an equity court administratively independent of the Chancellor and with a jurisdiction overlapping that of the Court of Chancery.

In 1823 the Court of Probates was abolished and its appellate jurisdiction transferred to the Court of Chancery (Chapter 70). The Chancellor was not to entertain appeals from the county surrogate's courts. These courts handled the probating of wills and matters concerning the administration of estates and certain guardianships. The same year the officers of Clerks in Chancery in New York City and Albany were abolished and their duties and records transferred to the Register and Assistant Register (Chapter 269). Solicitors were now to file their papers directly with the Register or Assistant Register. The law further centralized and streamlined the record keeping functions of the court. The same legislation also ordered chancery funds on deposit at the Bank of New York transferred to the Manhattan Company.

The Revised Statutes of 1829 changed the administrative structure of equity again by creating a uniform statewide system under the direction of the Chancellor. The Court of Equity was eliminated but the eight circuit judges retained equity jurisdiction in their circuits. In this capacity, however, they were designated "Vice Chancellors" and were now officials of the Court of Chancery subject to the authority of the Chancellor. During the period of the second state constitution the Court of Chancery exercised a growing jurisdiction over business corporations and banks. Chapter 325 of the Laws of 1825 gave the court wide powers over corporations adjudged insolvent or in violation of their charters in the Supreme Court of Judicature. The Revised Statutes of 1829 continued the provisions of Chapter 325 of the Laws of 1825 and further expanded the jurisdiction of the Chancellor over corporations. The 1829 legislation establishing the Banking Commission and a Safety Fund to protect bank depositors and creditors added to the court's responsibilities in regard to insolvent banks (Chapter 94).

During the last decades of the court's existence the state legislature frequently gave it special jurisdication over individual cases, including matters involving estates, insolvent corporations, Federal land acquisition, and Shaker children. Such jurisdictions usually expired when the cases were closed. Between 1832 and 1845 the laws incorporating railroads generally empowered the Chancellor or a Vice Chancellor to adjudicate disputes over the price to be paid for right-of-way land.

The State Constitution of 1846 abolished the Court of Chancery as of 1 July 1847. The law implementing the constitution's judicial reforms transferred all the records of the Court of Chancery and its circuits to the Court of Appeals except those in the custody of the Assistant Register (Chapter 280, Laws of 1847). These records, including those of the 1st Circuit, were deposited with the Clerk of the city and county of New York. Original jurisdiction for most matters of equity was given to the County Courts. The new Supreme Court was to be the highest court of equity as well as law. It heard appeals from the County Courts and exercised essentially the same equity jurisdiction as had the Chancellor. The newly-established Court of Appeals replaced the Court for the Trial of Impeachments and Correction of Errors as the state's court of last resort.

In 1853 the Court of Appeals was empowered by law to enroll any outstanding final Chancery order or decree. Enrollment would put these instruments into effect and make them a record of the Court of Chancery. This statute completed the work of New York's already defunct Court of Chancery (Chapter 421).