CT State Senate Approves Probate Court Reform Bill
by Ryan McKeen
The Senate last night approved a bill that cuts the current 117 probate court districts by more than half. It also imposes regular schedules in those courts and requires future probate judges to be attorneys. Conn Politics.TV
You can read the text of the bill here.
My question is where is the state going to put these courts?
I’ve been to dozens of probate courts throughout the state. Many of them are tucked in cramped offices in the basements of local town halls. Very small spaces.
It’s certainly possible for small towns to share a court. For example East Granby and Suffield already do.
I agree that Connecticut has too many probate courts. Mostly in small towns in the eastern and western parts of the state and consolidation is a good idea.
But I suspect that the logistics of implementing this bill will prove to be challenging to say the least.
May 29th, 2009 at 6:04 am
I like the idea of regular hours. It's been frustrating, at best, when I have to call one of those courts that is only open for an hour or two in the morning (when I'm in court) and a few hours at night (when I'm home eating dinner). I, too, wonder where the state is going to put those courts. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
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June 4th, 2009 at 8:33 am
Another Benefit to Probate Court Reform?…
My colleague, Ryan McKeen of A Connecticut Law Blog fame, and I were speaking last week on the general issue regarding interpretation of a Last Will and Testament. Intent of the Testator, four corners of the document, etc. Our law……
July 12th, 2009 at 4:43 am
We the people of CT. need to stand up, It is never to late. The Hamden probate judge Salvatore Diglio has been sited by the state wide grievance committee and the state lets him be a probate judge. The Milford judge is also an attorney and does not know the probate laws. take a good look at the probate reform bill, All it does is close down courts and does not provide any protection for us, the end users. We need to be protected from Judges like Beverly Streit-kefals and others just like her that are to busy with their other business's that they don't have time to learn the probate laws. Shame on all of you who call this self serving bill reform. Maybe it's time that we put someone other then that political hack Judge Paul Knierim in charge of the probate courts and the reform. Lets repeal this and put the people in charge. It is sad when you hear jokes like this about our probate system. What do you call an attorney that has failed in private pratice?…..A connecticut probate judge.
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