Understanding Discovery in Probate Proceedings: Putting the Pieces Together

As explained previously, you need to be familiar with the rules of procedure to successfully play the litigation game in Surrogate’s Court. The rules can be much more complex than those applicable in the Supreme Court.

As a prime example of this, consider the rules governing discovery in Surrogate’s Court. To understand them, you need to first identify the type of proceeding at issue and then determine if the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act (“SCPA”) contains any specific rules of its own.

SCPA Sections 1404 and 1410, for example, contain specific rules that authorize pre-objection discovery in probate proceedings. They permit parties to depose certain witnesses prior to the filing of objections, generally the attesting witnesses and the drafting attorney. They also permit the party conducting the examination to obtain documents from parties and third parties of all relevant matters which may be the basis of objections to the probate petition. Section 1404 also requires the estate to pay for the cost of these examinations if they occur prior to objections.

If objections are filed, the parties may seek to engage in post-objection discovery under Article 31 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules (“CPLR”), as applicable to probate proceedings by SPCA 102. SCPA 1404, however, limits a parties’ right to re-examine the same witnesses examined during pre-objection discovery.

Parties must also be familiar with Rule 207.27 of the uniform rules for the Surrogate’s Court. This rule is referred to as the so-called “3-2 rule”. Absent special circumstances, the 3-2 rule limits the parties’ rights to obtain discovery in probate proceedings to three years before and two years after the decedent executed the will (or up until the decedent’s death, if sooner).

To make things even more confusing, you will need to review the case law interpreting the 3-2 rule. By its plain language, the rule appears to be limited to only post-objection depositions. Section 1404 also expressly provides the party conducting a pre-objection examination with “all rights granted under [CPLR] article 31 … with respect to document discovery.” Nevertheless, the rule is drafted poorly. Given the confusion, a number of cases have decided to apply this 3-2 rule uniformly to all discovery conducted in probate proceedings, including pre-objection discovery. Parties must therefore familiarize themselves with the case law on this issue and ascertain whether the Surrogate in their case has rendered any prior decisions interpreting the rule. Parties must also review the case law to ascertain whether special circumstances exist to expand the scope of discovery.