Connecticut General Statutes 45a-478 – Appointment of trustee when person has disappeared. Trustee’s rights and duties. Procedure if person reappears
(a) When any person having property has disappeared so that after diligent search his whereabouts cannot be ascertained, the court of probate in the district in which he resided or had his domicile at the time of his disappearance or, if such person resided outside of this state, then in the district in which any of his property is situated, upon the application of the spouse, or a relative, creditor or other person interested in the property of such person, or the selectmen of the town where such person last resided, or in which such property is situated, shall, after public notice and a hearing thereon, appoint a trustee of the property of such person.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 45a-478
- Conservator of the estate: means a person appointed by the court to administer the estate of an adult individual. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Court: means a court of this state having jurisdiction over the matter pursuant to sections 45a-499o and 45a-499p or a court of another state having jurisdiction under the law of the other state. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Person: means an individual, corporation, statutory or business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, court, government, governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality, public corporation or any other legal or commercial entity. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Probate: Proving a will
- Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership, whether real or personal and whether legal or equitable, or any interest therein. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and includes an Indian tribe or band recognized by federal law or formally acknowledged by a state. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Trustee: includes an original, additional and successor trustee and a cotrustee. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
(b) Diligent search shall be deemed to have been made for any person who has disappeared while serving with the armed forces when such person has been reported or listed as missing, missing in action, interned in a neutral country or beleaguered, besieged or captured by an enemy.
(c) Such trustee, upon giving a probate bond, shall have charge of such property, and he shall have the same powers, duties and obligations as a conservator of the estate of an incapable person. With the approval of the court of probate, such trustee may use any portion of the income or principal of such property for the support of the spouse and minor children of such person.
(d) Upon its own motion or upon the application of any interested person, the court of probate may, after public notice and a hearing thereon, remove, discharge, require an accounting from, or appoint a successor to, such trustee.
(e) The court of probate may continue such trustee in office until satisfactory proof of the death of such person is furnished, until proceedings are taken to settle his estate on the presumption of his death under the provisions of § 45a-329, or for a period of seven years from the time of the disappearance of such person if he remains unheard of.
(f) In case of the reappearance of such person, the court of probate shall, on his application, after hearing and public notice thereof, order the restoration of such property to the person entitled thereto and the discharge of such trustee, after acceptance of the trustee’s account.