In March the Surrogate’s and Supreme Courts closed for all matters except those determined to be “essential,” meaning of the most urgent nature. As the Courts slowly re-open and expand to hear additional matters, we have been staying on top of all changes, including how to classify matters as essential for filing. As co-chair of the Surrogate’s Court Committee of the Nassau County Bar Association, Larry Berwitz has been working with the judges and staff to help inform other practitioners and develop systems for moving matters forward without sacrificing the safety of the Court staff and the litigants. Even before this crisis, the Courts were under-staffed and experiencing delays. The pandemic and the resulting closures have exasperated the problems faced by the Court system. The full impact is not yet known, but we anticipate that, once business resumes, the interruption in the Court’s processing of matters will add months to the administration of estates, even when everyone gets along.