On Tuesday, the Arizona House of Representatives took a major step in protecting Arizona citizens from abuse and the potential for corruption within the current probate system by passing SB1038, establishing a citizen-led Probate Advisory Panel that reports their findings directly to the legislature.
Supporters say the need for such a panel was made clear in testimony from Arizona victims of probate abuse during committee hearings and is supported by the reports out of the United States General Accountability Office and the Department of Justice, documenting years of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, physical abandonment, and financial exploitation from probate actions.
In explaining his “yes” vote, Rep. Alex Kolodin, an attorney, described that his original reluctance to support the bill was overcome by the testimony of witnesses and the paring of SB1038 with SB1291, which he described as “a very good probate reform bill.”
SB1291 is awaiting final House approval before heading back to the Senate due to amendments in the House.
The bill was the work of Sherry Lund, a nationwide advocate for probate reform, and Senator John Kavanagh-R. On the passage of SB1038 in the Arizona House, Mrs. Lund said, “At a time of such division within our country it is inspiring to see the bipartisan support of this bill which really speaks to the belief in protecting the rights of the people against the status quo. It is not a Democrat issue or a Republican issue, this is a Constitutional rights issue. It was encouraging to see that recognized by the huge majority of members, regardless of party.”
The Probate Advisory Panel, if signed into law, would meet at least quarterly and report its findings directly to the legislature for consideration of further reforms to the probate system in Arizona.