O F F I C E O F L E G I S L A T I V E R E S E A R C H
P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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PA 21-100—SB 959
Judiciary Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING PR OBATE COURT OPERATIO NS
SUMMARY: This act makes changes in various laws governing probate court
operations and related matters.
The act makes the following changes related to probate court filing fees:
1. expands the list of trust-related motions, petitions, and applications that
are subject to a filing fee, in conformity with 2019 changes to the state’s
trust law;
2. waives or reduces certain probate fees when the state is obligated to pay
funeral and burial expenses for State Administered General Assistance
(SAGA) beneficiaries or certain indigent persons; and
3. extends the scope of certain other probate fee-related provisions to apply
to filing fees for various matters.
The act specifically allows probate courts to (1) accept fee payment by
electronic funds transfer and (2) charge related service fees (which cannot exceed
the processing fee, including the discount rate) (§ 8). Under existing law, similar
provisions apply to fees paid by credit, charge, or debit cards (see
BACKGROUND, Related Act).
The act adds appeals of a quarantine or isolation order to the list of appeals
that are subject to specified procedures.
It specifies that certain estate settlement procedures apply following the death
of an adult with intellectual disability for whom a guardian was appointed.
The act adds certain reviews of Department of Children and Families (DCF)
voluntary admissions and related matters to the types of probate court transfers
that must occur electronically.
It also makes numerous minor, technical, and conforming changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2021
§ 1 — TRUST-RELATED FILING FEES
Existing law establishes a $250 filing fee for several trust-related matters in
probate court (among other probate court matters). This includes motions,
petitions, or applications to construe, divide, reform, or terminate a trust. The act
additionally requires this filing fee for motions, petitions, or applications to (1)
validate, combine, or modify a trust or (2) assume jurisdiction over an out-of-state
trust.
§§ 2-4 — FEE WAIVERS RELATED TO SAGA BENEFICIARIES OR
INDIGENT PERSONS
O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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Existing law waives the $150 filing fee for petitions for custody of a
decedent’s remains in cases where the state, by law, must pay funeral and burial
expenses for Temporary Family Assistance (TFA) or State Supplement Program
(SSP) beneficiaries.
Existing law also provides that in cases where the Department of
Administrative Services (DAS) represents an estate, the estate settlement fee is
the lesser of (1) the standard fee (which is based on the estate’s value) or (2) the
amount that DAS collected after paying the funeral and burial expenses because
the person was a TFA or SSP beneficiary.
The act extends these provisions to cases where the state pays the funeral and
burial expenses for (1) SAGA beneficiaries or (2) individuals who die without a
sufficient estate and without a legally liable relative to pay for a proper funeral
and burial.
§§ 5-7 — EXTENSION OF OTHER FEE-RELATED PROVISIONS
Under existing law, certain fee waivers or other rules apply to estate
settlement, fiduciary accounting, and miscellaneous probate fees (e.g., certain
copy fees). The act specifically extends these fee waivers and rules, as applicable,
to other fees to file various motions, petitions, or applications in probate court.
These other fees encompass filings in a range of matters, such as guardianship,
termination of parental rights, adoption, conservatorship, powers of attorney, and
requests for court continuances and mediation.
The act extends the following fee waivers and rules to these other filings, as
applicable:
1. the required fee waiver for adoption proceedings involving special needs
children;
2. court authority to postpone fees if the court determines that to require the
fee with the filing would cause undue delay or hardship;
3. the exemption of probate fees from the sales tax;
4. the requirement for probate courts, if a state agency is an applicant or
otherwise liable for probate fees, to accept the matter without the filing fee
and bill the agency for payment; and
5. the requirement for the probate court administrator to cause a refund of
overpayments to be paid out of the Probate Court Administration Fund.
Existing law already (1) allows any probate court petitioner or applicant to
apply for a waiver of fees and necessary expenses of the action, based on
indigency or other inability to pay, and (2) requires the court to grant the waiver if
the court finds that the person is unable to pay, based upon an application signed
under penalty of false statement.
§§ 9-11 — APPEALS OF QUARANTINE AND ISOLATION ORDERS
Under existing law, if the Department of Public Health commissioner orders
someone into quarantine or isolation during a public health emergency, the person
may file a probate court appeal of that order. Anyone aggrieved by the probate O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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court’s decision can appeal to Superior Court (CGS § 19a-131b).
As is already the case for certain other appeals of probate court decisions, the
act:
1. requires hearings on these appeals within 90 days after the appeal is filed
unless the probate court or Superior Court has granted a stay;
2. prohibits the Superior Court from referring the appeal to a special
assignment probate judge;
3. requires the probate court, within specified deadlines, to transcribe any
portion of the proceeding’s recording that has not been transcribed;
4. requires the appeal to be heard by the court without a jury (the appeal may
also be referred to a state referee);
5. prohibits the Superior Court from substituting its judgment for the probate
court’s on the weight of evidence on a question of fact; and
6. requires the Superior Court to affirm the probate court’s decision unless it
finds that the person’s substantial rights were prejudiced because the
probate judge’s findings, inferences, or decisions met certain criteria (e.g.,
exceeded statutory authority, were based on illegal procedures, or were
arbitrary or capricious).
§ 12 — ESTATES OF ADULTS WITH GUARDIANS
The act extends certain procedures for guardians or conservators closing out
small estates to also apply to guardians of adults with intellectual disability.
Generally, under these procedures, the guardian or conservator may pay for
the protected person’s unpaid lifetime expenses, funeral and burial expenses, and
administration expenses for closing the account if all these expenses equal or
exceed the protected person’s estate. The guardian or conservator may then take
credit for these payments in the final accounting.
§ 14 — TRANSFER OF DCF VOLUNTARY ADMISSION CASE S
By law, the probate court must review cases of children voluntarily placed
with DCF for services. In some cases, the probate court also must review their
permanency plans. Additionally, a party aggrieved by a termination of voluntary
admission may request a probate court hearing.
In these cases, if a probate court grants a party’s motion to transfer the matter
to another district, the act requires the electronic transfer of the case from one
probate court to another. Specifically, when a court issues an order to transfer a
file, it must transmit a digital image of each document using the document
management system maintained by the Office of the Probate Court Administrator.
Upon receipt of the electronic documents, the receiving court assumes jurisdiction
over the matter. Similar provisions already apply to various other probate matters.
The act replaces prior provisions which required the transferring court to
copy, certify, and deliver all documents to the receiving court.
BACKGROUND O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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Related Act
PA 21-2, June Special Session, § 442 (effective July 1, 2022) requires, rather
than allows, the probate court to charge a service fee for any court fee card
payments.