Connecticut probate courts have been defunded.
That’s right, the legislature will no longer pay for them. Never mind the poor souls who accidentally die in testate, never mind the vulnerable people who are in need of guardianship. Never mind that probate court is supposed to be a public service.
Instead of funding the courts, the legislature raised fees. Thus, the rich (assuming they don’t have enough warning to plan to die elsewhere, and assuming they lack wills) will pay extremely high fees, which supposedly will fund the rest.
This seems to be one decision that will have an adverse effect on both the wealthy and the poor. See Connecticut’s Probate Fee Change Could Drive Out Wealthy, Some Say, Luther Turmelle, New Haven Register (January 4, 2016), and Defunding of Probate Courts Punishes the Poor, Judge Lisa Wexler, Greenwich Time (August 29, 2015). Who’s it good for?
court-o-rama 