New York Laws
Article 10 - Action for Dower
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.