Although in years past, summary judgment in Surrogate’s Court proceedings was rare, today, summary relief has become a welcome means for disposing of issues or a matter in its entirety. In prior columns, the undersigned and others have commented on the increased use of summary judgment in contested probate proceedings.1 Of late, this momentum has continued as Surrogate’s Courts have been inclined to grant summary relief in proceedings involving the elective share, as well as the judicial settlement of a fiduciary’s account. Whether this seeming trend becomes the wave of the future remains to be seen. In the interim, consider the following.
Right of Election
Within the past six months, the Surrogate’s Court, Kings County (Sur. Lopez Torres), has disposed of two proceedings involving the validity of a surviving spouse’s elective share via summary judgment.
