A 'Probate Judge's' New Year's Resolutions

• Date: 01 January 2024
• Author: The Hon. Selena E. Molina

Bifocal January-February 2024 Vol. 45, No. 3

91

A “Probate Judge’s” New

Year’s Resolutions

By The Hon. Selena E. Molina

This year, Bifocal will be featuring a new column:

Views from the Bench. In this column, judicial

officers from around the country will share their

insights from presiding over aging-related disputes.

The first column comes from Delaware, where

Magistrate Molina, who serves as Delaware’s

version of a “probate judge,” explains her

resolutions for the new year.

For me, January 2, 2024 marked five years on the

bench. Five years of status conferences, discovery

disputes, oral argument, and trials. Five years of

issuing oral and written rulings. And five years of a

heavy docket and driving determination to do justice.

Moving into 2024 and the (hopefully) many years to

come, a few resolutions spring to mind.

First, I resolve to connect more personally to those I

serve. Presiding over adult guardianships, I am often

called upon to address concerns about the person with

a disability’s living situation, disputes about the most

appropriate placement, and competing claims made

by facilities and family members. Zoom has allowed

me to see into some residents’ rooms and I have heard

hours of testimony from dedicated facility staff, but I

have never personally visited any of the facilities that

serve aging Delawareans. In 2024, I am going to

change that. Through the connections I have made as

my court’s designee on Delaware’s Non-Acute Long-

Stay Patient Task Force, I will visit several long-term

care facilities this year. What I witness and learn will

better inform my decision making as I work to protect

Delawareans in need.

Second, I resolve to think proactively about

Delaware’s guardianship processes and advocate for

necessary change and growth. As a Commissioner for

the Commission on Law & Aging, I have access to,

and can make deep connections with, aging

practitioners and advocates throughout the country.

I am also the Delaware State Representative for

the National College of Probate Judges, another

organization through which I can learn from my

colleagues in other jurisdictions. This year, I plan to

work actively within these organizations and bring

what I learn to Delaware. I expect to do so through the

Court of Chancery Rules Committee, wherein I chair

the Guardianships, Trusts, and Estates Subcommittee,

and the Delaware Guardianship Commission, where I

serve as my court’s representative.

Third, I resolve to seek first to understand. Probate

judges are often thrust into personal, family disputes.

We are called upon to direct how someone’s finances

should be managed, how someone’s estate should

be distributed, and how someone should be cared

for when they can no longer make those decisions for

themselves. It is far too easy to think, from the

elevation of the bench, that one knows best. But we, as

probate judges, must seek first to understand: What life

has the person before me lived? What are their values

and guiding principles? I resolve to take a person-

centric approach and do my best to make decisions

that not only serve the person with a disability’s best

interest, but that align (as much as possible) with their

wishes. Rather than ask, “how would I want my

property handled,” I will ask: “how would I want my

property handled if I was this person, who has lived

this unique and important life?”

Fourth, I resolve to listen more than I speak. At a 2023

training by the National Judicial College, I learned a

Views From the Bench