The Barnstable County Division of the Probate and Family Court Department

This is a State Auditor review of the Barnstable County Probate and Family Court covering July 1, 2010 through September 30, 2012.

“In accordance with Chapter 11, Section 12, of the Massachusetts General Laws, we performed an audit of various activities of the Barnstable County Division of the Probate and Family Court Department (BCPFC) for the period July 1, 2010 through September 30, 2012.”

Auditors checked whether the court properly handled unclaimed trust money, followed fee-waiver rules, had required internal controls, and fixed problems found in earlier audits.

“The objectives of our audit were to determine (1) whether unclaimed custodial account (passbook3) assets in the custody of BCPFC are being deemed abandoned property and transferred to the Office of the State Treasurer (OST) in accordance with state law and Administrative Office of the Trial Court (AOTC) policies; (2) whether BCPFC is complying with laws and regulations pertaining to the waiver of fees, as well as to the type and number of cases involving waived fees; (3) whether BCPFC is complying with Chapter 647 of the Acts of 1989, An Act Relative to Improving the Internal Controls within State Agencies; and (4) the status of the issues identified in our two prior two audits of BCPFC (Nos. 2003-1230-3S and 2009-1230-3O).”

The court handles important family and probate cases, and during the audit period it collected over $2 million for the state while also holding trust accounts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“During the audit period, July 1, 2010 through September 30, 2012, BCPFC collected revenues of $2,036,641, which it disbursed to the Commonwealth as either general or specific state revenue.”

If you live in Barnstable County and deal with divorce, child support, custody, probate, guardianship, or similar matters, this is the court that may handle your case.

“The Barnstable County Division of the Probate and Family Court Department (BCPFC) presides over probate and family matters falling within its territorial jurisdiction of Barnstable County.”

For the areas auditors tested, the court was following the rules and had adequate controls.

“Based on our audit we have determined that, during the period July 1, 2010 through September 30, 2012, BCPFC maintained adequate management controls and complied with applicable laws, rules, and regulations for the areas tested.”

The auditor suggested that Trial Court leaders and lawmakers consider changing the law so courts can verify information from people asking to have court fees waived.

“Accordingly, we suggest that the CJTC and the Legislature review the waiver-of-fees process established by Chapter 261, Section 27C, of the General Laws and consider taking appropriate measures, including amending that section, to allow courts such as BCPFC to verify the information submitted by individuals who request a waiver of fees.”

The court cleared a major backlog from earlier audits by sending unclaimed money to the State Treasurer and distributing other funds to beneficiaries.

“As of September 30, 2012, BCPFC had transferred 256 passbook accounts, totaling $1,389,461, to the OST as abandoned property.”

A passbook account is money held by the court when funds from a probate case cannot yet be given to the person who should receive them, often because that person is a minor or cannot be found.

“Passbook accounts usually result from the settlement of probate proceedings at the request of a fiduciary who cannot distribute the funds to a beneficiary because the beneficiary is either a minor or an heir who cannot be located at the time of settlement.”