Practical Connecticut Probate Tip - Do not continue to use a phone number that belonged to a deceased parent or relative in situations where settlement of the estate’s debts are an issue. Settling an estate in Connecticut probate can take a while. In many cases it is between 6 months to 1 year. If an estate is insolvent or may be insolvent it may take a year to settle issues with outstanding creditors.

That is a year where the various creditors may have turned over the matter to a debt collection agency. Right or wrong, the debt collection agencies will keep calling no matter how many times they are informed that the estate is pending in Connecticut Probate Court and that they are harassing the grieving family.

Their primary tool of harassment is the telephone. If you have your own phone number separate from your parent or relative’s phone number, then you can disconnect your parent’s phone number and take away the primary tool of these collection agencies.

The debt will ultimately be determined at the right time in the Connecticut Probate Court proceedings. There is no reason for anyone to endure this harassment after losing a loved one.

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The Hagel Smith probate proceedings in Greenwich, Connecticut reached an important conclusion when Judge David Hopper approved Jennifer Hagel Smith’s settlement with Royal Caribbean International against the wishes of her deceased husband’s parents (George and Maureen Smith).

Maureen and George Smith intend to appeal the decision to the Superior Court. Regardless of the ultimate outcome, Judge David Hopper got it right when he noted “One thing that is clear about this case is that there are no winners[...]” in his decision.

Additional information on the Hagel Smith probate litigation.

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Connecticut Probate Courts are intended to help resolve certain issues. Sometimes things just go wrong.

Rose Quattro is 88 years old. She lives with her son in East Hartford. Unfortunately Rose developed a medical condition and required a short term stay at Haven Health Center of East Hartford. Rose’s son had some disagreements with the nursing home. In response, the nursing home petitioned the probate court to appoint a conservator for Rose.

The probate court appointed a conservator for Rose as well as an attorney to represent Rose. The probate court also appointed a guardian ad litem.  That is three attorneys suddenly involved in Rose’s life and billing her for their time.

So what is the controversy? Rose’s attorneys are responsible to make sure that Rose can take care of herself. They have to be sure that her son is not taking advantage of her potentially vulnerable condition. In order for the court to receive information necessary to decide if Rose can adequately act on her own without legal representation there need to be court hearings. And more hearings. And more hearings. This adds up, especially when you have anywhere from three to five attorneys all billing you for the same hearing.

Does Rose need all these attorneys and probate court involvement? I don’t know. They may be protecting Rose or they could be draining her assets in a pointless exercise. I do know that this is not what Rose wants, and that is what I consider important.

Rose probably never imagined she would end up with five attorneys in the local probate court, and you probably think it will never happen to you or your family also. It can, and it does happen. Can you avoid it? Not entirely, but you can minimize your risk to ending up in this situation with a functional Connecticut estate plan.

Source: Shameful Abuse of Probate 

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