N.Y. Real Property Actions & Proceedings Law § 1043: Dower, how admeasured

§ 1043. Dower, how admeasured. The referee or the commissioners must

execute their duties in the following manner:

1. They must, if it is practicable, and, in their opinion, for the

best interests of all the parties concerned, admeasure and lay off, as

speedily as possible, as the dower of the plaintiff, a distinct parcel,

constituting the one-third part of the real property of which dower is

to be admeasured, designating the part so laid off by posts, stones, or

other permanent monuments.

2. In making the admeasurement, they must take into consideration any

permanent improvements, made upon the real property, after the death of

the plaintiff's husband, or after the alienation thereof by him; and, if

practicable, those improvements must be awarded within the part not laid

off to the plaintiff; or, if it is not practicable so to award them, a

deduction must be made from the part laid off to the plaintiff,

proportionate to the benefit which she will derive from so much of those

improvements, as is included in the part laid off to her.

3. If it is not practicable, or if, in the opinion of the referee or

commissioners, it is not for the best interests of all the parties

concerned, to admeasure and lay off to the plaintiff a distinct parcel

of the property, as prescribed in the foregoing subdivisions of this

section, they must report that fact to the court.

4. They may employ a surveyor, with the necessary assistants, to aid

in the admeasurement.