HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Court officials say Connecticut is now the most expensive place to die in the U.S. — at least for the wealthy — because of hefty new fees for settling estates.
Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the Democrat-controlled legislature signed off on a plan effective July 1 that eliminated a $12,500 cap on probate court fees, cut all state government funding to probate courts and doubled the fee on estates worth more than $2 million to 0.5 percent of the value.
Probate officials surveyed all 50 states and say Connecticut has the highest probate fees in the country. They're warning that without a cap, some bills could top $1 million and many will be more than $100,000.
Critics say the fees are unfair and may prompt wealthy people to move.
Connecticut has always been the most expensive state in which to die once one adds up the cost of judicial corruption. Many families who have the misfortune of becoming involved in the probate courts have been forced to pay huge sums to lawyers and other fraudsters appointed by the probate courts (or indirectly by such appointees). I've heard stories of folks being billed thousands of dollars for having grandma's lawn mowed. Some have coined the phrase "granny snatching" for the probate system's habit of taking control of the finances of elderly and infirm Connecticut residences who happen to have sufficient financial assets to attract judicially connected fraudsters. Basically, the entire Connecticut probate court system (and the family and juvenile systems) are corrupt.
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