Connecticut’s Probate Courts protect the rights of individuals and ensure care, safety and community-based solutions for thousands of our most vulnerable residents and their families in times of need. Probate Courts handle a wide range of sensitive issues affecting children, the elderly, persons with intellectual disability and individuals with psychiatric disabilities, in addition to their traditional role of overseeing decedents’ estates and trusts.

Trusts and Estates

• probating wills and the administration of estates;

• overseeing testamentary and living trusts;

• determining title to real and personal property; and,

• construing the meaning of wills and trusts.

Guardians, Conservators and Civil Commitment

• appointing guardians for persons who are developmentally disabled;

• approving placements of persons who are developmentally disabled;

• appointing a guardian of the estate or person for a child;

  for persons with mental illness and/or for persons who are incapable of managing or administering their own affairs,

• appointing conservators of the person and the estate; and,

  committing those suffering from severe mental illness to an appropriate facility.

Parents

• removing parents who are unfit to serve as guardians of their children;

• hearing the claims of paternity of unwed fathers;

• terminating the parental rights of parents who cannot fulfill their parental responsibilities; and,

• granting adoptions.

Other

• granting name changes;

• approving or disapproving the marriage of a youth under the age of sixteen years;

• waiving the blood tests required for the issuance of a marriage license.

Do I Need an Attorney For a Probate Court Proceeding?

Parties involved in a proceeding do not require a lawyer to represent them. Probate court forms are designed to be "user-friendly,'' and the probate clerk may offer limited assistance to people completing required forms and reports. In the case of complex estates or complicated family matters, however, an attorney may be retained, as explained below.

Decedent's Estates
The executor or administrator of an estate should obtain legal assistance if:

• extensive help is required;

• the estate includes substantial or unusual assets, such as a closely held business or a copyright;

• the estate is large enough to involve the filing of a Federal Estate Tax Return;

• there are problems involving taxation;

• the executor or administrator has substantial questions concerning the law or fiduciary responsibilities; or,

• the will or any matter in the estate is contested.

Family Matters
In the following matters, an attorney is required for the respondent (the person who is the subject of the proceeding):

• guardianship, placement, and sterilization of the mentally retarded;

• commitment of mentally ill adults and children;

• involuntary conservatorship;

• temporary custody or removal of guardianship for a minor child; and,

• termination of parental rights (legal representation is required for both the minor child and the respondent parent(s).

What can I expect?
The probate courts have often been called "the people's courts" because they offer simple, direct access to legal proceedings. Convenience and efficiency are the hallmarks of the probate court. The majority of uncontested matters are heard within four weeks of the time a person goes downtown or drives to the next town to file the application.