The past several months have seen significant decisions concerning Article 31 discovery in the Surrogate’s Court. Addressed to such issues as electronic discovery, the costs of document production, the costs of document production, and digital assets. These opinions are discussed below.

Discovery by Electronic Means Examined

The issue of discovery by electronic means is not frequently the subject of Surrogate’s Court practice. In Richmond County, however, the court was confronted with two applications seeking such relief. One such decision was rendered in In re Frizziola, N.Y.L.J., Sept. 16, 2019, at 22 (Sur. Ct. Richmond County), in which the petitioner moved to conduct the SCPA 1404 examinations of the attorney-draftsperson and the witness to the will electronically, pursuant to the provisions of CPLR 3113(d). See also In re Grunwald, N.Y.L.J., 2019 NY Misc. LEXIS 5348 (Sur. Ct. Richmond County).