1972, October, Pg. 15. Metamorphosis in Probate.

• Author: by David Brofman

1 Colo.Law. 15

Colorado Lawyer

1972.

1972, October, Pg. 15.

Metamorphosis in Probate

15Vol. 1, No. 12, Pg. 15Metamorphosis in Probateby David BrofmanDavid Brofman is Judge of the Probate Court of Denver.Lawyers in my age group are often confronted with the declaration, "You are a guardian of the past." Although I emphatically deny the applicability of this statement, I do join with those who consider themselves such guardians to the extent that I love the past in that it is a valuable preface to action.

There are many guardians of the past in probate. For years, probate practitioners were satisfied with what was happening as long as it did not deviate from the routine with which they were familiar---a routine to which they had become accustomed and from which they had no inclination to depart. Most of them grew up in an era when great respect was accorded the so-called experts who maintained that the status quo was best because "that's the way we have always done it." This was especially trying when one's energies were exhausted, for example, in attempting to get a real estate title declared merchantable. Everyone, it seemed, had his own view.

The first shocker came in the mid-Forties. A Colorado Bar Association committee of these experts was formed to agree on state-wide real estate title standards. But here I am drifting away from "pure" probate.

The Beginning of ChangeIn 1951, I was appointed judge of the County Court, which then had exclusive jurisdiction over probate and which later became the Probate Court. That year seems to mark the beginning of a series of changes in probate practice which continued through the next two decades.(fn1) The present practitioner in probate may be assured (the author is the grantor of such assurance) that all of the changes were made in what was considered to be in the best interest of the probate system and those affected thereby.

As a starting point, sight was never lost of the basic and only purposes of a probate court---to see that transfers of property are made, creditors are paid and distribution is had to those persons legally entitled thereto as speedily and inexpensively as possible with full protection to all.

Administrative ChangesOne of the first steps in improving court administration was to re-arrange the contents of a file so that documents were easily identifiable and accessible, using a

16red folder for the will, a green folder for the final report, a white folder for claims and a gray folder for communications. After a few contested will cases in which the condition of the will became an issue, especially as to how many staple punctures were on the documents, it was ordered that a will shall remain in the same condition as received. It must, of course, be separated for microfilming, but it is not re-stapled; instead, it is attached using punched holes. Order stamps, previously placed directly on the will, were eliminated in favor of the present face sheet which contains such orders. The only mark now placed on the will is that of the Court Reporter for exhibit identification.The next step was the elimination from the files of closed estates of vouchers and receipts. Authority for such elimination is contained in C.R.S. 1963, 153-14-1 (4) and (5), as amended, and it permits the destruction of hundreds of thousands of items annually.

We were then faced with the problem of fitting the statutory voucher requirement with automation. This problem was solved by C.R.S. 1963, 153-14-1 (1), as amended in 1965, which permits the court to make the determination which satisfies it. Related is the implementation. We require a certificate from a controller of the fiduciary (assuming it is corporate), indicating that the funds listed on the printout were paid as stated.

In 1959, the Denver Probate Court began to use microfilm as a security device for its records---one of the first courts in the nation to do so. The adoption of this method eliminated the laborious task of copying in full certain papers required by...