For those of you that missed it, my March 26th blog post spoke of the importance of being exceedingly nice to court clerks while initiating the Probate process. The clerk is (a) extremely knowledgeable as to how Probate works, (b) the gatekeeper and only individual who can begin the proceeding, and (c) a human being with feelings. As such, treat them with respect.
That is not what this blog post shall cover.
Clerks, like all people, are human beings and human beings are fallible. You have to understand and accept this fact, or your visits to the Surrogate’s Court will end in you wanting to drown your bad mood at the nearest Happy Hour.
I have had clerks tell me I have brought paperwork for the wrong proceeding, come back with the paperwork for the proceeding they requested, then tell me the paperwork I originally brought in was correct but is now too old to submit. I have had clerks ask me for things that are totally impossible to procure (old or expired identification documents, statements from family members stating they knew something they could not possibly know, proof of residency in countries that have not existed since World War I). Clerks have even asked me to (illegally) procure mail from a deceased individual’s premises so I could personally attest to financial information regarding the deceased individual. My response that this was illegal was met with a somewhat glib retort, which can be summed up as “That’s what I want, you have no choice, see ya later.” The arrogance was, well…very human.
In the hopes of not torpedoing my career or further scarring my reputation, I will not mention which county courts these events took place in (there are a few, and the practitioners in this area of the law are weary of these courthouse’s reputations as it is, so no need to call them out or contact an investigative journalist). Fortunately, courts are like the DMV: If you keep going to different individuals you will eventually get the person who can get the job done.
The takeaway: Keep going to the court in person. If you don’t like the answer you receive from the first clerk, go to a different one the next time, and always be polite: An ounce of honey goes further than vinegar, even when dealing with the most arrogant of human beings.
Q FOR YOU: When was the last time a gatekeeper put a near-impossible task in front of you?
