Judge of Probate (Four Year Term)The Connecticut Probate Court system handles legal matters pertaining to affairs of the deceased, estates, some parts of family law, conservatorship, and other matters requiring certain legal decisions. The Judge of Probate presides over the Fairfield Probate Court, one of 54 probate courts in Connecticut.
Fairfield residents vote for Judge of Probate once every four years. Probate judges are the only members of the state Judicial Branch that are elected. Their seats are up for election every four years to coincide with the state wide gubernatorial election. Candidates for Judge of Probate are required to have been a lawyer and certified through the Connecticut bar. The judge's term commences January 4 in the year following the election.
The services provided by the Fairfield Probate Court include, but are not limited to:
- Probating wills and the administration of estates
- Overseeing testamentary and living trusts
- Determining title to real and personal property
- Construing the meaning of wills and trusts
- Appointing guardians for the developmentally disabled
- Appointing conservators of the person and the estate of incapable individuals
- Committing those suffering from mental illness, alcoholism or drug addiction to healthcare facilities
- Removing unfit parents as guardians of their children
- Terminating parental rights of parents who cannot fulfill their parental responsibilities
- Granting adoptions
- Emancipating minors
- Appointing guardians of the estate of minors
- Awarding custody of the remains of a deceased person
- Granting name changes
- Granting U.S. Passport applications