Probate Referees

On Aug. 13 The Times ran its umpteenth story on the state’s probate referee system. Allow me to add some much-needed perspective on this subject.

When he was elected controller in 1986, Lt. Gov. Gray Davis inherited a probate referee system that had been ingrained and largely unchanged for years. During his tenure, he revamped it, earning plaudits from probate judges throughout the state. His reforms included tougher tests, annual performance audits and evaluations by referring judges. He also created the first-ever nonpartisan screening panel chaired by a former federal appeals court justice and a former California attorney general.

As a result, most experts--including the Internal Revenue Service--generally recognize the professionalism of probate referees and accept the accuracy of their appraisals. It is also well-known that their appraisals cost the public less than half what private attorneys would charge for the same services. And referees carry out their tasks at no cost to the taxpayers.

Those who propose the abolition of the current system have a responsibility to put in place an alternative that would provide the public with equally good service at a comparable price. If the current controller can devise such a system, the lieutenant governor would wholeheartedly endorse it.

GARRY SOUTH

Chief of Staff to the Lieutenant Governor

Sacramento