This is that wonderful time of the week where I do my best to explain something to you that I don't know too much about. This week I am talking of course about probate court. What is it? Why is it important? Why should I care? Well I don't know the answer to any of these questions right now, so work with me. Here is one definition I found on Google.
"A specialized court or division of a state trial court that considers only cases concerning the distribution of deceased persons' estate. Called "surrogate court" in New York and several other states, this court normally examines the authenticity of a will -- or if a person dies intestate, figures out who receives her property under state law. It then oversees a procedure to pay the deceased person's debts and to distribute her assets to the proper inheritors. See probate."
(http://www.nolo.com/definition.cfm/Term/50CD84AF-3723-4A94-8639E92A63253990/alpha/P/)
Here's another:
"The court that deals with adoptions, estates, wills, trusts, guardianships, conservatorships and civil commitments."
(http://www.oberholtzerlaw.com/legterm.htm)
OK so I think we have a pretty good idea of what's going on here. Probate court is a place where very important things about peoples lives are decided. The main purpose of this court is to handle a dead person's estate. They will examine the contents of a person's will, or if they die intestate, or without a will, they figure out what to do with the dead guy's stuff. These probate judges must have a ton of power right. They step in on issues that can not be resolved in any other way. Dead people cannot quite vocalize where they want their assets to go, and disputes over children usually get very messy and cannot be easily solved by the parties involved. This type of court is very important because these issues are very important. Many judges merely keep courtroom order and handout sentences. These judges literally take peoples lives in their hands on a daily basis. They must have the utmost integrity because questionable people with such power can do very bad things. I'll leave you with the mission statement from the Massachussetts Probate Court, to show you what they're going for.
" To deliver timely justice to the public by providing equal access to a fair, equitable and efficient forum to resolve family and probate legal matters and to assist and protect all individuals, families and children in an impartial and respectful manner."
Friday, November 14, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
In short, court records are public documents. Through probate court you frequently will have access to information about people's wills and guardianship arrangements among the other things you found.
Post a Comment