Special proceeding
A court case built to be decided quickly, used where waiting for an ordinary lawsuit would defeat the point.
What it means
An ordinary lawsuit is designed for thoroughness: pleadings, discovery, a trial date months or years out. A special proceeding is the same court doing the same job on a compressed timetable, because some questions cannot wait for that.
New York routes every dispute about the disposition of a person's remains into one, under article 4 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules — the reason being obvious once stated: a body cannot wait for a trial calendar.
The name differs by state. What is consistent is the shape: a petition rather than a complaint, a short return date, and a decision on papers where the facts allow.
Why it matters
It is the answer to "we cannot possibly go to court about this in time" — sometimes you can, and the procedure exists precisely for that.
It changes what a lawyer can realistically do in the first days, which is when funeral disputes actually happen.
Knowing the term makes it possible to ask for the right thing rather than being told a lawsuit would take a year.
When you are likely to meet it
- When control of a funeral is contested and somebody has to break the deadlock.
- When a lawyer says the matter can be brought on by petition rather than by complaint.
- When a statute says a dispute "shall be resolved by a court of competent jurisdiction" on a named track.
How this varies by state
Whether this route exists, what it is called and what it covers is set by state law.