Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
The Surrogate's Court providently exercised its discretion in granting that branch of the plaintiffs' motion which was to strike the defendants' answer pursuant to CPLR 3126 (3), since the defendants repeatedly failed to comply with court orders with respect to discovery ( see Bates v. Baez, 299 AD2d 382; Patterson v. Greater N.Y. Corp. of Seventh Day Adventists, 284 AD2d 382; Town of Southampton v. Salten, 186 AD2d 796).