Pledge: President Sam Fulginiti
Prayer: Rev. Ed Cornell
Song: No Bill - No Song
Brents Card Game Winner: Donna Lash
Sergeants Report: Pete Zucco
Raffle: Mark Patterson, Guest Jeannine Lewis, Charlie Renshaw
Happy Bucks: $'s for our guest, Sam for our guest and the beautiful day, Gary was $5 happy for his anniversary today, Judge Jeannine was happy to be here, Rev. Ed was happy for his son and daughter-in-law who became parents to a wonderful 3 year old boy Steven - adoption process took a year, Marty for the great turnout of Rotary marchers at the Memorial Day Parade (pictures), Brian was happy Marty organized it, Donna was very happy for a lot of things having won the card game and donating it all!
Program: Probate Court Judge - District of Saybrook, Jeannine Lewis
Jeannine's court serves 63,000 people in the communities of Chester, Clinton, Deep River, Essex, Haddam, Killingworth, Lyme, Old Saybrook and Westbrook. The court keeps regular business hours but is available 24/7. The Probate Court system was established in 1698 making it the oldest court in the US. The types of cases include mental health (conservators, commitments) - 22%, children's matters - 11%, intellectual disability - 9%, estates (wills & trusts) - 48%, name changes and other cases - 10%. There are 54 full-time courts in Connecticut which is a much reduced number after budget cuts were made several years ago. Probate judges are the only elected judges and now you must be a lawyer to qualify to be a probate judge. Wills and estates are the most common cases. Conservators may be appointed if someone isn't intellectually capable of making decisions. This can be voluntary or involuntary depending on the circumstances. Most childrens' cases are transferred to the Meriden court as they have social services professionals on staff full time who devote 100% of their efforts to children. Subsidies to cover attorney fees and other costs are available for the indigent. Conservators help keep people in their homes which saves the state a lot of money. The court also helps keep kids out of foster care another source of savings to the state. Its a good idea to register your will with the probate court in case something happens to you and your will cannot be obtained. In that case, your estate may end up in state court system where your wishes may not be honored. There are 7 clerks in Jeannine's court, Sharon Tiezzi is taking over as the chief clerk.
Go to the Activities page for upcoming events and meeting schedule. Tuesday, June 4 you can meet our scholarship recipients at the OSHS Library at 6PM. Please make an effort to attend and see our fundraising efforts in action!
md
