Probate Judges do some important things. A lot of people don’t give it much thought because in reality, most people don’t deal with the probate court until something unexpected has happened and they just find themselves trying to get through the system. One common function probate judges perform is the appointment of attorneys in various roles including independent executor or other fiduciary.

How do they decide who gets appointed to what position in what case?

What are the standards for acceptable billing by the court appointed attorney?

In some cases there are some rules that provide guidelines, however, with a lack of oversight who knows what really happens?

Earlier this summer I read this article from Houston. The Houston Chronicle newspaper conducted an investigation of hundreds of probate court records and thousands of billing records. What they found was disturbing and I encourage you to check it out for yourself.

Here are some interesting revelations:

• One Harris County judge approved paying $1,000 in fees to a lawyer for attending her ward’s funeral and burial. Most people would agree there is almost no circumstance where an attorney is needed at a funeral.
• In Harris County those who got the most business in probate cases contributed tens of thousands of dollars for the 2006 judicial races. Could there possibly be a connection between campaign finance and receiving lucrative appointments? Tune in next time on unsolved mysteries.
• Between 2003 and 2005, one judge ordered more than $400,000 in fees paid to one of his former law students — a 12-year lawyer who became one of his top-paid appointees during her first 18 months as an attorney. I started hearing echoes of “it’s not what you know but who you know” when I saw that one; ain’t it the truth. Really now, that is one judge effectively granting one attorney a $100,000+ salary for those years, and it was a newly licensed attorney.
• During the same time, the same judge also approved more than $375,000 to a former law school classmate who had recently returned to practice in Texas and mainly specialized in real estate law.
• In Harris County, the top-paid professionals in one probate court included one of the judge’s former law students, his law school friend and a lawyer with whom he has shared office space and real estate investments.

So where do we stand after learning about all these questionable acts? Well, for one, as a citizen I am glad I am not subject to the probate courts described in the study. Does something similar go on in Connecticut? I don’t know. I hope not, but until someone does their own investigation we won’t know.

This is not an attack on Connecticut probate and I hope you don’t read it that way. I’m sure that won’t stop some of the fanatics that stop by, but I can’t do anything about them. It is a reminder about the vulnerability to corruption that accompanies a politically elected judiciary. Probate judges are important, and they may be better off if they were free of campaign finance.

Is working 4 hours per day too much to ask? If you ask a probate judge in Connecticut to do it, maybe it is…

The CT legislature enacted a requirement this last session that Connecticut Probate Courts remain open at least 20 hours each week. The legislature did not address how to accommodate the 20 hour requirement. So, who decides when the courts should be open to satisfy this new requirement?

In July Connecticut’s Probate Court Administrator, James Lawlor, notified the probate judges that their courts should be open 4 hours each day. Judge Lawlor also provided that a court could ask for a waiver from the daily requirement if they had good cause.

The Probate Judge’s Association was not happy with being told to show up for work every day even if it is only for 4 hours. The President of the Association, Brookfield’s Judge Joseph Secola, has threatened legal action to avoid this draconian work order from the Probate Court Administrator. One of his more amusing comments is [Lawlor's] “position is not king. The judges aren’t serfs that have to go to him on their knees to request a waiver from a standard that the law does not require.”

Hey Probate Judges, this is not the way to improve your image and enhance the respectability of a court system that has been under regular attack for the last five or so years. Go to work, serve the public, and stop the grand-standing over someone expecting you to show up to your job for 4 hours every day. If it is really that horrible, you can find another job. Oh wait, you might have to work 8 hours a day somewhere else.

A lot of people have to show up for work at a lot tougher jobs than yours for 8 or more hours ever day, remember that.

Well this is something you don’t see every day.

The Coventry Funeral Home was the subject of a search warrant on Tuesday. The home’s former owner, Kevin Riley, has been under investigation by the Health Department and the state probate court. Riley is accused of entering homes of the deceased and disposing of items without the family’s permission. The probate court is investigating that complaint as well as 12 other cases while the health department decides whether to revoke Riley’s embalmer’s license.

You can read the full story from WFSB here.

I don’t really have anything to add to this. All I can say is “wow.”

Our Probate Courts are involved in some of the most intimate details of our lives. They primarily get involved in cases of death or disability. Probate records are also public, which can lead to distribution of personal and financial information you would rather not be “out there.”

Privacy concerns in Probate are nothing new. Attorneys have spread the word about these privacy concerns to the public over the years. Many families recognize the disadvantage of having their information in the public domain and have implemented an estate plan to protect their privacy. Some continue to be skeptical and do nothing. I understand the initial reaction of: “who could possibly be interested in my family’s probate records in small town Connecticut which contain nothing valuable other than a house?” One person that may be interested is that real estate investor down the street…

For those of you that think “it won’t happen to me”, consider the following. First, Diamond Farming Probate Real Estate Kit. This is a real estate investing program for sale throughout the United States that, in the words of its creator, “… explains in detail how you can make bargain, and even super-bargain buys, of real estate property going through probate.” Do you still think nobody is going through the Probate Court records to identify desperate sellers in order to make a low bid?

Second, take a look at Court Records Online. This is a company gathering up court records, including Probate records, to have available for retrieval on its website to anyone that is curious. Do you still think your records are going to stay relatively unknown and anonymous in the basement of the Town Hall?

Today’s topic is your information is valuable to someone. It can be someone you never imagined and someone with no personal agenda other than profit. Whether it is someone trying to make a low bid on your real estate for personal gain or a company just collecting public information for curious people someone is watching.

Are you committed to an estate plan that protects your privacy? I can show you proven techniques to preserve your privacy during disability and death. You can reserve your consultation by calling (860) 593-0404.