reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 17 - Appeals; Insolvent Estates

Section 17. In the case of an estate of a deceased person represented insolvent, if the court, instead of appointing commissioners to receive and examine the claims of creditors against the estate, receives and examines such claims itself, the provisions of this chapter, so far as applicable, shall govern the proceedings for proof of the same and appeals from the allowance or disallowance thereof, exclusive of the provisions of sections eleven and sixteen of chapter one hundred and ninety-eight.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 18 - Appeals; Stenographers; Appointment

Section 18. At the trial of any issue of fact in a probate court the presiding judge may appoint a stenographer, who shall be sworn and shall attend the trial, or such part thereof as the judge may direct, and perform like duties and receive the same compensation therefor as a stenographer appointed by the superior court who is not on salary; and the sums so payable for his attendance at court and for any transcript of his notes or part thereof furnished to the judge by his direction shall be paid by the commonwealth upon the certificate of the judge. The judges of probate of any county may appoint a stenographer for the probate court of such county. The compensation and expenses of such stenographer shall be paid by the commonwealth.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 19 - Consolidation of Appeals by Appellant

Section 19. An appellant from decrees of a probate court settling different accounts of an executor, administrator, guardian, conservator, trustee or receiver may unite his appeals in one notice of appeal, and they shall thereupon be entered as one appeal in the supreme judicial court; and an appeal taken by another appellant from any of the same decrees, or from another decree made at the same time or earlier, settling any other account of such fiduciary, may be entered in the supreme judicial court as part of the matter comprised in the appeal previously entered. The court may, upon appeal, deal with such different accounts as if they formed one continuous account, and may give effect to any alterations which it may make in any account by altering the balance of the last account without altering the balance of any previous account.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 22 - Effect of Appeal; Interlocutory Orders

Section 22. After an appeal has been claimed and filed in the registry of probate, all proceedings in pursuance of the act appealed from shall, except as otherwise expressly provided, be stayed until the determination thereof by the supreme judicial court or appeals court; but if, upon such appeal, such act is affirmed, it shall thereafter be of full force and validity. An appeal from an interlocutory order, judgment or decree, however, shall not suspend proceedings under the same pending the appeal, except as otherwise expressly provided by law.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 23 - Effect of Appeal; Equity Cases

Section 23. An appeal from a final or interlocutory order or decree in equity of a probate court made in the exercise of any jurisdiction in equity shall not suspend or stay proceedings under such order or decree pending the appeal. But the probate court or a justice of the supreme judicial court, in case of such appeal, may stay all proceedings under such order or decree and make necessary or proper orders to protect the rights of persons interested pending the appeal; and any such order of the probate court for a stay of proceedings or for protection of any such rights may be varied or discharged by a justice of the supreme judicial court upon motion, and shall not be otherwise subject to an appeal.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 24 - Effect of Appeal; Separate Support and Custody Cases

Section 24. The preceding section shall apply to orders or judgments of probate courts in proceedings under chapter two hundred and eight, and under sections thirty-two and thirty-seven of chapter two hundred and nine, except that, as provided in the Massachusetts Rules of Domestic Relations Procedure, the filing of an appeal shall stay the running of the nisi period in a divorce case.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 25 - Removal of Fiduciary; Effect of Appeal

Section 25. A decree of a probate court removing an executor, administrator, guardian, conservator, trustee or receiver shall have effect, notwithstanding an appeal therefrom, until otherwise ordered by a justice of the supreme judicial court. The probate court may in such case appoint a successor to the person removed, and the latter shall forthwith deliver all the property of the estate held by him to his successor, who shall proceed in the performance of his duties in like manner as if no appeal had been taken; but if the decree of removal is reversed by a final decree of the supreme judicial court, the powers of such successor shall thereupon cease and he shall forthwith deliver to his predecessor in the trust, or to such person as the court may order, all property of the estate in his hands.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 27 - Pending Appeals; Modification of Decrees

Section 27. After an appeal is claimed from an order or decree referred to in the two preceding sections, and before such appeal has been finally determined, a justice of the supreme judicial court may suspend or modify such order or decree during the pendency of such appeal.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 28 - Appeals; Reversal or Affirmance

Section 28. The supreme judicial court or appeals court may, upon appeal, reverse or affirm, in whole or in part, any judgment, decree or order of the probate court, and may enter such judgment or decree thereon as the probate court should have entered, may remand the case for further proceedings, or make any order therein as law and justice may require.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 30 - Rules and Forms; Power of Judges to Make

Section 30. The judges of the probate courts or a majority of them shall from time to time make rules for regulating the practice and for conducting the business in their courts in all cases not expressly provided for by law and shall prescribe forms, and, as soon as convenient after making or prescribing them, shall submit a copy of their rules, forms and course of proceedings to the supreme judicial court, which may alter and amend them, and from time to time make such other rules and forms for regulating the proceedings in the probate court as it considers necessary in order to secure regularity and uniformity.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 31 - Notice of Hearing; Rule Making Power of Courts

Section 31. The supreme judicial court and the probate courts shall make rules requiring notice of any hearing, motion or other proceeding before said courts to be given to parties interested or to the attorneys of record therefor.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 32 - Transaction of Business Out of Court

Section 32. Judges of the probate courts may transact business out of court at any time and place, if all parties entitled to notice assent thereto in writing or voluntarily appear; and in such cases their judgments and decrees shall be entered as of such sessions of the court as the convenience of the parties may require.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 34b - Review of Contempt Order Prior to Order of Confinement

Section 34B. A judge of the probate court who has found a party to be in civil or criminal contempt for failure to obey any order or judgment of the probate court relative to support of a spouse or children or relative to the custody of children shall, before ordering such person to be confined in a jail, review such order or judgment to determine that such order or judgment was issued by a court of competent jurisdiction and was not obtained by fraud.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 35 - Warrants and Commissions; Revocation

Section 35. A warrant or commission for the appraisal of an estate, for examining the claims against insolvent estates, for the partition of land or for the assignment of dower or curtesy or other interests in land, may be revoked by the court for sufficient cause, and a new commission may be issued or other appropriate proceedings taken.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 36 - Judgments, Decrees and Orders; Necessity of Writing; Notices; Recording

Section 36. Judgments, decrees and orders of probate courts shall be in writing, and in contested cases or in cases wherein the court has reserved judgment, notices thereof shall be given by the registers to the attorneys of record, and in the absence of an attorney of record, to any party who has appeared personally and given his address. The registers shall record in books or electronically such judgments, decrees, orders and other proceedings in said courts and such instruments, as shall be determined by rules made from time to time under section thirty, by entering the same upon the pages thereof in fair and legible handwriting, printing, typewriting, or by photographic process, or by any combination of any two or more of such methods. They may also direct the recording of any judgments, decrees, orders, instruments and other proceedings in their offices, irrespective of the time when such judgments, decrees, orders, instruments or other proceedings were made, received or held, by means of microphotography or other similar photographic process or electronically, and, in such case need not maintain books for such records, but shall provide such filing equipment therefor as they deem proper, the cost of which shall be paid by the county. When such recording is by photographic process, registers shall keep an alphabetical index thereof, or other appropriate description of and reference to the film upon which such recording may be found.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 37 - Docket and Index; Manner of Keeping; Public Inspection

Section 37. Each register shall keep a docket of all cases and matters in his court, and shall enter therein every case or matter by its appropriate title and number, brief memoranda of all proceedings had and papers filed therein, the dates of such proceedings or filing of such papers, and references to the places in which the proceedings or papers are recorded, if there is a record thereof. He shall also keep a separate alphabetical index of all such cases and matters which shall refer both to said docket and to the files of the court, and a separate alphabetical index of all public administrators seeking appointment or appointed to administer any estates, with the names of such estates. Such docket and indexes shall be open to public inspection at all reasonable times.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 38 - Oaths

Section 38. Oaths required in proceedings in the probate courts may be administered by the judge, register, first assistant register, assistant register, judicial case manager, assistant judicial case manager or session clerk in or out of court or by a justice of the peace or notary public and, when administered out of court, a certificate thereof shall be returned and filed or recorded with the proceedings, but the judge may require any such oath to be taken before him in open court.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 39 - Administration of Estates; Compensation for Services; Power to Determine and Enforce

Section 39. Probate courts may ascertain and determine the amount due any person for services as appraiser, for premiums of surety companies for acting as surety upon the official bonds of administrators, executors, trustees, guardians, conservators or receivers, or for services rendered by any person in connection with the administration of the estate of a deceased person, or with the administration of any trust, guardianship, conservatorship or receivership; and payment of said amount when ascertained and determined to be due may be enforced summarily by said court upon motion of the person to whom the amount is due in the same manner as a like payment under a decree in equity may be enforced, and execution may also be issued therefor against the executor, administrator, trustee, guardian, conservator or receiver personally as upon a judgment at law.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 39a - Attorneys' Fees; Power of Court to Determine

Section 39A. At any time during the administration of an estate, and irrespective of the pendency of a particular proceeding, the probate court shall have power to hear an application for, and fix and determine, the compensation and expenses of an attorney for services rendered to the estate or to its representative or to a devisee, legatee, distributee or any other person interested therein.
Such application shall be instituted by a petition, upon a form provided by the court. Notice of the application shall be given in such manner as the court shall direct. In the event that the court shall determine that any sum or sums is or are due to the petitioner or to any other party interested in the application, the compensation shall be awarded on an equitable basis in accordance with the size, importance, complexity and difficulty of the matters involved and the time spent thereon. The court may direct payment thereof from the estate generally or from funds in the hands of the representative of the estate and belonging to any legatee, devisee, distributee or other person interested therein.
In the event that the court shall determine that any such attorney has already received or been paid a sum in excess of the fair value of his services on such equitable basis, as thus determined, the court shall have power to direct him to refund such excess.
For the purposes of this section, the term ''estate'' shall be deemed to include trusts, guardianships, conservatorships and all other relationships involving the administration of property by fiduciaries.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 39b - Attorneys' Fees; Allowance

Section 39B. When a judgment or decree is entered in a contested proceeding seeking equitable relief or on an account or to determine the construction of a will or of any trust instrument or to determine any question as to the powers, rights or duties of any fiduciary under any written instrument or to determine any question with respect to services rendered by any such fiduciary or the compensation of such fiduciary for such services, the probate court may, in its discretion as justice and equity may require, provide that such sums as said court may deem reasonable be paid out of the estate in the hands of such fiduciary to any party to the proceeding on account of counsel fees and other expenses incurred by him in connection therewith. The sums awarded shall be specified in the judgment or decree which may in such case direct that any sum so awarded to any party be paid in whole or in part to his counsel. The probate court, subject to appeal, shall have like powers when entering a judgment or decree after the receipt of a rescript from the supreme judicial or appeals court unless the rescript shall specifically direct otherwise. The counsel of any party to whom an award might be made under this section on account of counsel fees or expenses may file and prosecute in his own name a petition under section thirty-nine A for the payment directly to him of any sum or sums which the court would have power to award the party. A person interested, whose counsel would have standing hereunder or under section thirty-nine A, shall have standing to institute and prosecute a petition for the determination of any sum or sums which the court would have power to award against such person.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 40 - Resignation or Removal of Fiduciary; Power to Compel Surrender of Property

Section 40. If an executor, administrator, guardian, conservator, trustee or receiver resigns or is removed, and neglects or refuses to deliver to his successor all property held by him under the trust, the probate court may, upon application of such successor or any person beneficially interested, order such delivery made, and shall have like powers for enforcing such order as are given to it by section thirty-four.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 41 - Temporary Investments

Section 41. A probate court may, upon application of a person interested in an estate in process of settlement in such court, direct the temporary investment of any money belonging to such estate in securities approved by the judge, or on paid-up shares and accounts of and in co-operative banks, or in share accounts or savings deposits of federal savings and loan associations or a savings and loan association located in the commonwealth; or it may authorize the money to be deposited in any bank or savings institution in the commonwealth empowered to receive such deposits and said sums may be placed in accounts which require prior notice of intention to withdraw, provided that the interest payable on such accounts is at a rate higher than accounts where no notice to withdraw is required.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 41a - Distribution of Limited Funds of Estates to Parents of Minors

Section 41A. A probate court may, upon application of an administrator or executor of an estate under such terms and conditions as the court may direct, authorize said person to deliver to the parent of a minor, any funds to which such minor is entitled and held by said administrator or executor when the sum is less than one thousand dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 42 - Appearances

Section 42. A duly authorized attorney at law may enter his appearance as attorney for the party represented by him in any proceeding in a probate court, and all processes and notices served upon him shall have the same force and effect as if served upon the party whom he represents. Any person entering an appearance as herein provided, or in his own behalf, shall print or type his name directly below his signature thereon, but failure to do so shall not affect the validity thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 43 - Interrogatories

Section 43. In any proceeding in a probate court, the petitioner or respondent may at any time after the filing of the petition file interrogatories in the registry of probate for the discovery of facts and documents material to the support or defence of the proceeding. All provisions of chapter two hundred and thirty-one relative to interrogatories in civil actions shall, so far as applicable, apply to such interrogatories. If a party neglects or refuses to expunge, amend or answer according to said chapter, the petition shall be dismissed or its prayer granted, or such other order or decree entered as may be required.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 44 - Concealed Property; Examination of Suspects Under Oath

Section 44. Upon complaint to a probate court by a person interested in the estate of a deceased person against a person suspected of having fraudulently received, concealed, embezzled or conveyed away any property, real or personal, of the deceased, the court may cite such suspected person, although he is executor or administrator, to appear and be examined on oath upon the matter of the complaint. If the person so cited refuses to appear and submit to examination, or to answer such interrogatories as may be lawfully propounded to him, the court may commit him to jail until he submits to the order of the court. The examination shall be had and recorded in such manner as the court shall direct, and the final record shall be signed by the party examined. A proceeding hereunder shall be entitled ''petition for discovery''.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 45 - Costs

Section 45. In contested cases before a probate court or before the supreme judicial court on appeal, costs and expenses in the discretion of the court may be awarded to either party, to be paid by the other, or may be awarded to either or both parties to be paid out of the estate which is the subject of the controversy, as justice and equity may require. In any case wherein costs and expenses, or either, may be awarded hereunder to a party, they may be awarded to his counsel or may be apportioned between them. Execution may issue for costs awarded hereunder.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 46 - Summons or Citation; Service by Registered Mail

Section 46. When personal service is required of any summons or citation issued by a probate court, the court may direct such service to be made by registered mail addressed to the party entitled thereto at his post office address. Further service may be ordered.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 49 - Notices; Selection of Newspapers

Section 49. Parties to probate proceedings may select the newspapers in which the notices ordered upon their petitions shall be published, preference to be given to a newspaper, if any, published in the town where the deceased last dwelt, unless, in the judgment of the register, the interests of all parties require publication in some other locality; but the court may order the notice published in one other newspaper.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 50 - Receipts and Releases of Fiduciaries; Recording; Fees

Section 50. A paper or instrument, discharging a claim or purporting to acknowledge the performance of a duty or payment of money for which an executor, administrator, guardian, conservator, trustee or receiver is chargeable or accountable in a probate court, shall, upon the request of a party interested, be recorded in the registry of said court; and the registers of probate in their respective counties shall enter, record, index and certify any original paper or instrument offered as aforesaid, and shall receive for such services like compensation as registers of deeds would be entitled to demand for like services. Such compensation shall be paid by the person leaving such paper or instrument for record at the time of leaving it.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 52 - Original Will; Taking From Registry

Section 52. The probate court in which a will has been duly proved, allowed and recorded may, after the expiration of twenty days within which an appeal may be taken from the decree admitting such will to probate, upon the petition of the executor or of a legatee named in such will, or of any person interested in the estate of the testator, and after notice and a hearing, permit the original will, if it appears necessary, to be taken from the files of such court to establish the right or title of such executor, legatee or person to the estate of the testator in any foreign country.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 53 - Court Room and Room for Records; Duty to Provide

Section 53. The commonwealth shall provide and maintain suitable rooms for the use of the probate courts, ample fireproof rooms and suitable alcoves, cases and boxes for the safe keeping of all records, files, papers and documents, whether in physical or electronic form, belonging to the several registries of probate, and shall also provide all books necessary for keeping the records, and all printed blanks and stationery used in probate proceedings.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 55 - Preservation of Dockets and Indexes

Section 55. If in the judgment of the chief justice public convenience so requires, he may, at the expense of the commonwealth, cause the files and records of the probate and family court department, within the respective divisions, to be rearranged, indexed and docketed, worn or defaced dockets renewed and the indexes consolidated, under the direction and supervision of the registers of the respective divisions.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 56 - Recording of Proceedings in Suffolk; Expense

Section 56. The expense of recording probate proceedings in Suffolk county, not exceeding forty-five hundred dollars in any one year, shall be paid by the commonwealth, upon the official certificate of the register, countersigned by a justice appointed to the division for said county, in the amounts and to the persons named in such certificate.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 56a - Investigations

Section 56A. Any judge of a probate court may appoint a guardian ad litem to investigate the facts of any proceeding pending in said court relating to or involving questions as to the care, custody or maintenance of minor children and as to any matter involving domestic relations except those for the investigation of which provision is made by section sixteen of chapter two hundred and eight. Said guardian ad litem shall, before final judgment or decree in such proceeding, report in writing to the court the results of the investigation, and such report shall be open to inspection to all the parties in such proceeding or their attorneys. The compensation shall be fixed by the court and shall be paid by the commonwealth, together with any expense approved by the court, upon certificate by the judge to the state treasurer. The state police, local police and probation officers shall assist the guardian ad litem so appointed, upon his request.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 56b - Contempt Proceedings Involving Child Care, Custody or Maintenance; Guardian Ad Litem; Appointment

Section 56B. Any judge of a probate court may appoint a guardian ad litem to institute contempt proceedings under the provisions of section thirty-four A against any party for failure to obey judgments of the probate court involving care, custody or maintenance of minor children, and said guardian ad litem may personally serve throughout the commonwealth any summons or capias incidental to the enforcement of this section. The compensation shall be fixed by the court and shall be paid by the commonwealth, together with any expense approved by the court, upon certificate by the judge to the state treasurer. The state police, local police and probation officers shall assist the guardian ad litem so appointed, upon his request.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 56c - Transmission of Order of Probate Court Appointing Guardian or Conservator for Incapacitated Person to Department of Criminal Justice Information Services for Consideration in Background Checks for Firearm Sales or Licensing; Petition to Restore Person's Ability to Possess Firearm

Section 56C. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law, to the contrary, the administrative office of the trial court shall transmit an order of the probate court appointing a guardian or conservator for an incapacitated person under Parts 3 or 4 of Article 5 of chapter 190B, on the grounds that the person lacks mental capacity to contract or manage the person's affairs, and any subsequent order terminating or rescinding the appointment, to the department of criminal justice information services to provide: (i) licensing authorities as defined pursuant to section 121 of chapter 140 with information required or permitted to be considered under state and federal law to conduct background checks for firearm sales or licensing; and (ii) the Attorney General of the United States with information required or permitted under federal law to be included in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System maintained to conduct background checks for firearms sales or licensing. The department shall transmit no more information than is necessary for the purpose stated above and the information shall not be considered a public record under clause Twenty-sixth of section 7 of chapter 4 and section 10 of chapter 66.
(b) A person found to lack the mental capacity to contract or manage the person's affairs may, after 5 years from the date of the finding, file a petition for relief with the probate court that ordered the commitment requesting the court to restore the person's ability to possess a firearm. The court may grant the relief sought in accordance with due process if the circumstances regarding the person's disqualifying condition and the person's record and reputation are determined to be such that: (i) the person is not likely to act in a manner that is dangerous to public safety; and (ii) the granting of relief would not be contrary to the public interest. In making the determination, the court may consider evidence from a licensed physician or clinical psychologist that the person is no longer suffering from the disease or condition that caused the incapacity or that the disease or condition has been successfully treated for a period of 3 consecutive years. Upon the granting of a petition for relief, the administrative office of the trial court shall immediately forward a copy of the order for relief to the department of criminal justice information services for the purposes listed in subsection (a).
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 58 - Sessions of the Courts; Open Times

Section 58. The probate court shall be open daily on days other than Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, for hearings, matters in equity, proceedings in contempt and for making orders, judgments and decrees in matters before them, except that, if the convenience of the public so requires, a court shall be open on any Saturday, not a legal holiday, for said purposes during such hours as the judge or judges thereof may determine. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, the times of hearings shall be discretionary with the judges of said courts.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 59 - Sessions of the Courts; Adjournment

Section 59. A judge of a probate court may adjourn court as occasion requires; and if he is absent at the time appointed for holding court, the register shall adjourn it as he may consider necessary or as the judge may order. The register may also adjourn court when the office of judge is vacant.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 60 - Sessions of the Courts; Holidays and Election Days

Section 60. If the regular time for holding a probate court occurs on a legal holiday, the court shall not be open, and all notices, summonses, citations, orders and other papers which would otherwise be made returnable at said regular time shall be made returnable on the next secular day thereafter.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 215 - Probate Courts › Section 62 - Times and Places for Holding Courts

Section 62. The court shall be held by one of the justices, and when so held shall have and exercise all the power and jurisdiction committed to said court. The chief justice, after consultation with the chief justice of the trial court, shall make such assignments for the attendance of a justice at the several times and places appointed for holding the court as will be most convenient as will insure the prompt performance of its duties.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 217 - Judges and Registers of Probate and Insolvency › Section 1 - Divisions; Justices; Definitions

Section 1. For each county there shall be a division of the probate and family court department of the trial court, and in each division except those for Suffolk, Middlesex, Essex, Worcester, Plymouth, Hampden, Bristol, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, one appointment of an associate justice of the trial court shall be made and he shall be the justice for that division. Wherever the words ''probate court'', ''court of insolvency'' or ''probate and insolvency court'' are used, or similar words importing the same, or wherever in this chapter the word ''court'' is used in that context, they shall refer to a division of the probate and family court department of the trial court; and the words ''judge of probate'', ''judge of probate and insolvency'' or the word ''judge'', in context, shall mean an associate justice of the trial court appointed to a division of said probate and family court department; and the words ''register of probate'', ''register of probate and insolvency'' or the word ''register'', in context, shall mean the register of a division of the probate and family court department; and the words ''registry of probate'', ''registry of probate and insolvency'' or the word ''registry'', in context, shall mean the registry of said division.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 217 - Judges and Registers of Probate and Insolvency › Section 3b - Hampshire County; Associate Justice

Section 3B. There shall be an associate justice of the trial court appointed in Hampshire county, hereinbefore known as the special judge of probate and insolvency in the county of Hampshire, who shall be and perform the duties of a full-time circuit justice in said county or such other county as the chief justice may designate, and when so assigned shall receive from the commonwealth the expenses incurred by him. Upon such designation, the registry of the court to which said circuit justice is assigned shall certify upon the records of the court, and to the comptroller, the number of days, the dates upon which, and the occasions for which, the circuit justice performed his duties. Nothing in this section shall be construed to establish a new judicial position nor abolish the tenure of the incumbent special judge of probate and insolvency.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 217 - Judges and Registers of Probate and Insolvency › Section 3c - Circuit Justices; Appointment; Expenses

[ Text of section effective until July 1, 2023. For text effective July 1, 2023, see below.]
Section 3C. There shall be 11 associate justices of the trial court appointed for the probate and family court department who shall be and perform the duties of circuit justices in such counties as the chief justice shall from time to time designate, and when so assigned they shall receive from the commonwealth the expenses incurred by them.
Chapter 217: Section 3C. Circuit justices; appointment; expenses
[ Text of section as amended by 2023, 28, Sec. 62 effective July 1, 2023. For text effective until July 1, 2023, see above.]
Section 3C. There shall be 19 associate justices of the trial court appointed for the probate and family court department who shall be and perform the duties of circuit justices in such counties as the chief justice shall from time to time designate, and when so assigned they shall receive from the commonwealth the expenses incurred by them.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 217 - Judges and Registers of Probate and Insolvency › Section 4 - Registers of Probate and Insolvency

Section 4. There shall be in each county a register of probate and insolvency, who shall hold office for six years beginning with the first Wednesday in January in the year succeeding his election, and until his successor is qualified.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 217 - Judges and Registers of Probate and Insolvency › Section 5 - Oath of Judge

Section 5. Each judge of probate, before entering upon the performance of his official duties, in addition to the oaths prescribed by the constitution, shall take and subscribe an oath that he will faithfully discharge said duties and that he will not during his continuance in office violate any provision of section six. Such oath shall be filed in the registry of probate of the county for which he is appointed.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 217 - Judges and Registers of Probate and Insolvency › Section 5a - Oath of Register

Section 5A. Each register, before entering upon the performance of his official duties, in addition to the oaths prescribed by the constitution, shall take and subscribe an oath that he will faithfully discharge said duties and that he will not during his continuance in office, directly or indirectly, be interested in, or benefited by, the fees or emoluments which may arise in any suit or matter pending in either of the courts of which he is register. Such oaths shall be filed in the registry of probate of the county for which he is elected.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 217 - Judges and Registers of Probate and Insolvency › Section 6a - Special Judge or Register; Interest in Proceedings; Prohibition

Section 6A. No special judge of probate, register, assistant register or person employed in any registry of probate and insolvency shall be interested in, or benefited by, the fees or emoluments which may arise in any matter pending before the probate court or court of insolvency of his county; nor shall he act as counsel or attorney, either in or out of court, in any matter pending before said courts or in an appeal therefrom; nor shall he, except as otherwise provided, be appointed or act as executor, administrator, guardian, conservator, commissioner, appraiser or assignee of or upon an estate within the jurisdiction of his court; nor shall he be interested in the fees or emoluments arising from any of said trusts; provided, that nothing in this section shall prohibit the practice of law before said courts by a special judge of probate. Section seven of chapter one hundred and ninety-two and section seven of this chapter shall apply to a special judge of probate.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 217 - Judges and Registers of Probate and Insolvency › Section 6b - Prohibitions and Restrictions on Justices; Assignment to Another County

Section 6B. No justice, circuit justice or special justice sitting in a probate and family court shall be interested in, or be benefitted by, the fees or emoluments which may arise in any matter pending before any probate court or which may arise in any suit or action pending in any court of this commonwealth where the subject matter or cause of action is founded upon or derived from proceedings begun in any of the probate courts nor shall he, except as otherwise provided, be appointed or act as executor, administrator, guardian, conservator, trustee under a will, commissioner, appraiser or assignee of or upon an estate within the jurisdiction of any probate court; nor shall he be interested in the fees or emoluments arising from any of said trusts. Full-time justices, or circuit justices provided for under this chapter, shall devote their entire time during ordinary business hours to their duties and shall not, directly or indirectly, engage in the practice of law. The judge of probate for Dukes county and the judge of probate for Nantucket county shall sit in the probate and family court for any other county upon designation thereto by the chief justice for said department pursuant to section eight, and when so assigned shall receive from the commonwealth the expenses incurred by them.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 217 - Judges and Registers of Probate and Insolvency › Section 7 - Judge and Register; Appointment as Guardian or Executor

Section 7. If a judge or register desires to be appointed guardian of his minor child, who is an inhabitant of or resides in the same county, such appointment may be made, and all subsequent proceedings in regard thereto had, in the probate court of an adjoining county. A judge who is named as executor of or trustee under a will may be appointed as such except that, if such will is offered for probate in his county, such appointment shall be made, and all subsequent proceedings in regard thereto had, in the probate court of an adjoining county.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 217 - Judges and Registers of Probate and Insolvency › Section 8 - Chief Justice; Powers and Duties

Section 8. The justice provided for under the provisions of section 1 of chapter 211B as the chief justice for the probate and family court department, in addition to his judicial powers and duties, shall, subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section 3 of chapter 211, have the power, authority and responsibility of a chief justice as set forth in section 10 of chapter 211B.
The chief justice may establish forms for the annual reports of the work of the registers of the several courts; and said registers shall annually, on or before October 1, prepare and file with the chief justice reports of the work of said courts during the preceding court year, and said reports shall also be filed with the chief justice of the trial court. Said chief justice of the probate and family court shall also have the powers and duties described in section 10 of chapter 211B and section 42 of this chapter; except that none of the powers herein described or referred to shall be construed as authorizing said chief justice to alter or affect the provisions of section 58, 59, 60 or 62 of chapter 215.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 217 - Judges and Registers of Probate and Insolvency › Section 8 1/2 - Deputy Court Administrator

Section 81/2. The deputy court administrator provided for under the provisions of section 1 of chapter 211B as the deputy court administrator for the probate and family court department shall, subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section 3 of chapter 211, have the power, authority and responsibility of a deputy court administrator as set forth in section 10 of chapter 211B.