The Case Settled

Courts greatly appreciate when parties settle their disputes by agreement. Settlements alleviate the courts of the burden of overwhelming caseloads, and further the public policy of encouraging parties to order their affairs by contract rather than relying on statute and common law. As the Surrogate's Court recently reiterated in Matter of Eckert, "stipulations of settlement are judicially favored, will not lightly be set aside, and are to be enforced with rigor and without a searching examination into their substance as long as they are clear, final and the product of mutual accord."

Settling an estate litigation is especially difficult. With estate litigation, parties often find it difficult to reconcile their personal view of what is right and just with the constraints of the law and our imperfect justice system. As this experiment tends to show, it can be hard to take. Nevertheless, settlements often save litigants from the risk and cost of continuing litigation.