New Haven County Probate Records
Connecticut probate is a separate court system. It is not a division of the New Haven Judicial District Superior Court, even though probate appeals and some related civil cases may later appear in Superior Court records. For New Haven County users, that split matters. Estate and trust files start with the Connecticut Probate Courts, while divorce, custody, civil, criminal, housing, and many protection-order files are Superior Court records. Marriage certificates are handled by town or city vital records offices.
New Haven County Probate Court records may cover decedent estates, affidavit estates, tax-purpose estates, wills filed only for safekeeping, trusts, testamentary trusts, guardianships, conservatorships, children's matters, mental health commitments, name changes, and related filings. The correct court depends on the town connected to the person, estate, trust, child, or protected person. New Haven, Branford, East Haven, Hamden, West Haven, Milford, Derby, Shelton, and the regional children's probate court are separate local access points.
The Connecticut Probate Courts site is the main starting point for forms, court lookup, case lookup, eFiling, and document-viewing instructions. The Probate Case Lookup is useful, but it is narrower than a full courthouse file. It covers decedent estates and trusts from January 5, 2011 forward, and older data may be incomplete.
The Connecticut Probate Courts homepage shows the statewide probate tools used for New Haven County probate records.
Those statewide tools matter because New Haven-area probate records are organized by probate district rather than by a county clerk.
New Haven County Probate Terms
Probate files use terms that are easy to mix up. A quick definition check helps when reading a case lookup result, a paper file, or a notice from a New Haven-area Probate Court clerk.
- Testator
- The person who made a will.
- Executor
- The person named to carry out a will and handle estate tasks after appointment.
- Intestate
- A death without a valid will, which means estate transfer follows Connecticut law and court orders.
- Guardianship
- A court case about legal care or decision-making for a minor child.
- Conservatorship
- A case about authority to make personal or financial decisions for an adult who needs protection.
Probate Court records can also use terms such as fiduciary, inventory, accounting, distribution, trust, and testamentary trust. The online lookup may show the case category, court, case number, fiduciary contact details, and district contact details, but the underlying file may hold more documents than the public lookup result displays.
Search New Haven County Probate Records
The online route begins with the Probate Case Lookup and the Probate Court locator. The lookup covers decedent estate and trust matters, so it is best for estate files and trust files from the modern system. The locator is broader because it identifies the court, judge, chief clerk, address, phone, fax, hours, and towns served. Use both tools when a New Haven County probate record is not obvious from the first search.
- Identify the town tied to the decedent, trust, guardianship, conservatorship, or filing.
- Use the Probate Court locator to find the correct New Haven-area probate district.
- For decedent estate or trust matters from January 5, 2011 forward, search the Probate Case Lookup.
- Open the case number for available case details, and use the district name for the court contact.
- For older or offline documents, contact the chief clerk about paper file review or a public access computer.
- For a new filing, use Probate Court eFiling if eligible or ask the local court for paper filing instructions.
The Probate Case Lookup page is the public search tool for decedent estate and trust records in New Haven County.
The lookup result is a starting point. A clerk request may still be needed for documents, restricted files, or older records.
| Field | Type | Options or limits |
|---|---|---|
| Case Type | Dropdown | Decedent's Estate or Trusts. |
| Search Criteria | Text or filters | The web app asks the user to specify search criteria before clicking Search. |
| Search | Submit button | Runs the query through the Connecticut Probate Court lookup service. |
New Haven County Probate Courts
New Haven County probate records are spread across local Probate Court districts. The New Haven Probate Court serves the City of New Haven, but nearby towns use other probate courts. The regional children's probate court is a distinct New Haven institution for child-related probate matters serving ten communities.
The Probate Court locator lists New Haven-area probate court districts and current contact details.
Use the locator before visiting because Probate Court districts are town based, and the nearest courthouse may not be the court that holds the file.
New Haven Probate Court
200 Orange Street, 1st Floor
P.O. Box 905, New Haven, CT 06504-0905
Judge: Americo R. Carchia
Chief Clerk: Patrizia Clark
203-946-4880
Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Branford-North Branford Probate Court
1019 Main Street, P.O. Box 150
Branford, CT 06405-0150
Judge: Charles E. Tiernan III
Chief Clerk: Shari Moon
203-488-0318
Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
East Haven-North Haven Probate Court
595 Thompson Avenue
East Haven, CT 06512
Judge: Michael R. Brandt
Chief Clerk: Mary-Beth Luzzi
203-468-3895
Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Hamden-Bethany Probate Court
Government Center, 2750 Dixwell Avenue
Hamden, CT 06518
Judge: Michael Dolan
Chief Clerk: Christine L. Panzo
203-287-7082
Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
West Haven Probate Court
355 Main Street, P.O. Box 127
West Haven, CT 06516
Judge: Timothy Gunning
Chief Clerk: Tracy Morrissey
203-937-3552
Monday-Thursday 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.; Friday 8:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Milford-Orange Probate Court
70 West River Street, P.O. Box 414
Milford, CT 06460-0414
Judge: Ben Gettinger
Chief Clerk: Elizabeth J. Davis
203-783-3205
Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Derby Probate Court
City Hall, 253 Main Street, 2nd Floor
Ansonia, CT 06401
Judge: Clifford P. Hoyle
Chief Clerk: Kay Jeanette
203-734-1277
Monday-Thursday 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.; Friday 8:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Shelton Probate Court
40 White Street, P.O. Box 127
Shelton, CT 06484
Judge: Fred J. Anthony
Chief Clerk: Anne Marie Marcinczyk
203-924-8462
Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
New Haven County Probate Fees
The research file did not capture a full Probate Court filing-fee schedule, so the safest record-access fee guidance is to use the court's current filing instructions or ask the chief clerk before submitting payment. For copies of public records in Connecticut, the public-record copy framework in CGS 1-212 is useful for administrative records, but court case documents can be governed by court rules and specific clerk practices.
| Item | Amount or note |
|---|---|
| Probate filing fee | Confirm with the Probate Court chief clerk before filing. |
| Probate eFiling | Use the eFiling portal when the filing type and court are eligible. |
| State public-record copy from administrative functions | Up to $0.25 per page under CGS 1-212. |
| Other public-agency copy | Up to $0.50 per page under CGS 1-212. |
| Certified public-record copy | Fee under CGS 1-212 when certification is available and requested. |
The Probate Court eFiling portal lets users select a filing location for Connecticut Probate Court filings.
Before filing in a New Haven County probate district, match the town and case type to the correct Probate Court location.
What New Haven County Probate Records Show
Probate records can show the parties, fiduciaries, court district, filing type, case number, notices, orders, inventories, accountings, wills, trust-related documents, distributions, name-change filings, guardianship orders, and conservatorship papers. The public lookup is not the same as the complete file. A case detail can identify a record and the right court contact, while document viewing may require an access code, an in-person public access computer, or review of a paper file.
| Code | Probate case type |
|---|---|
| DR | Decedent Estate Regular |
| DAT | Decedent Estate Affidavit Estate |
| DT | Decedent Estate Tax Purposes Only |
| DS | Decedent Estate State as Legal Representative under 4a-16 |
| DW | Decedent Estate Will File Only |
| T, TL, TO, TT | Trust, Living Trust, Trust Other, and Testamentary Trust. |
The New Haven Probate Court page gives local court details for City of New Haven probate matters.
That local page is most useful when the probate matter belongs to New Haven itself rather than another town-based probate district.
Restricted New Haven County Probate Records
Not every Probate Court document is public online. Children's matters, some guardianship details, mental health commitments, sealed filings, personal identifiers, and documents subject to special court limits may be restricted. The Probate Court document-viewing guidance also distinguishes online documents from "Offline" documents scanned before eFiling implementation. Offline does not mean unavailable. It means the record may need paper file access or a Probate Court public access computer.
When an access code is available and saved, the Probate Court document system can show a "View Court Case Documents" button instead of requiring the code again. If that option is not present, contact the chief clerk for the correct court. For probate appeals or related Superior Court actions, use the Superior Court civil/family lookup and the New Haven Judicial District clerk instead of the probate lookup. A fuller view of civil case access is available through the New Haven County court records page.
Note: Probate is town-district based in Connecticut, so verify the probate district before requesting copies or visiting a counter.