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Judge Camacho wants dormant probate cases in CNMI to move forward
Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho has noticed that many probate cases in the CNMI have been obviously dormant for many years.
Camacho said in an effort to move probate cases forward, especially cases that have languished due to lack of attention, he will be setting status conferences on these dormant cases in the coming months.
Camacho has been assigned at the Probate Court on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota, as of last May.
In his letter to the courts and lawyers yesterday, the judge encouraged probate administrators, executors, and counsels to review their probate files and endeavor to bring the probate of the estate to a final closure.
“Probate cases are intended to solve and bring closure to the decedent’s estate so that creditors will be paid and heirs can move on with their lives,” Camacho pointed out.
Probate cases, the judge said, are not to be used as a poor substitute for a long-term family trust as this is not a proper legal mechanism.
He said probate cases should not be intended for the long-term administration of family land or businesses.
Camacho urged administrators, executors, and estate lawyers to file a request for a status conference so that these dormant probate cases are addressed in a timely manner and brought to closure.
Camacho likewise noted that the CNMI Rules of Probate Procedures has not been updated since 1996.
The judge said as chair of the Probate Rules Committee he invites members of the CNMI Bar Association to participate in the modernization and updating of the Rules of Probate Procedures.
