Litigation of Surrogate Court matters can be personal. Often, the resentment and indignation of the allegations exchanged is only outdone by the vitriolic counter allegations. The result can be protracted series of contested and expensive proceedings that feed the disillusionment of lawyers and the judicial system. If instead, sometimes mediation was utilized in this arena, one may reduce the court workload while providing voices to the parties’ positions without jeopardizing settlement positions.

Trust and estate matters can often be resolved through a mechanism of dispute resolution because usually the litigated issues are simply hiding unresolved emotional issues brought to the surface by the death of a loved one. In addition, these long-standing hidden emotional issues usually drive the process, making litigation, which is often a lengthy and expensive proposition, the final straw that destroys the relationship. Robert D. Steele, et al., The Benefits of Mediation and Arbitration for Dispute Resolution in Trusts and Estate Law, p. 2 (The Benefits of Mediation). While many view the Surrogate or the court staff as the individuals whose role should be to curb the entrenched position of the parties and act as a mediator, there is often not enough time, training, or resources to fulfill this role. Id. at p. 3