Delaware Senate Bill 256 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)
Status: Introduced on May 5 2016 - 25% progression, died in committee
Action: 2016-05-05 - Assigned to Executive Committee in Senate
Pending: Senate Executive Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Draft #1) [HTML]

This Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment to provide for an integrated and state-wide Register of Wills office. At the present time, the three counties operate three separate offices that handle the functions of the Register of Wills. Each operates using its own requirements and procedures, each provides services solely in its respective county, and each is managed by a different elected official. This proposed constitutional amendment will enable the General Assembly to create by statute a more cost-effective and efficient system of Register of Wills offices. The proposed amendment removes the constitutional provisions requiring that the Register of Wills be an elected office. Because the Register of Wills presently acts as a clerk to the Court of Chancery, the proposed amendment reorganizes that function under the leadership and jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery. The intent of this amendment is to develop legislation that will make the integration revenue neutral for the counties, so that the counties will not lose an important funding source and will retain the fees collected from the administration of estates, net of costs.

An Act Proposing An Amendment To Article Iii, Article Iv, And The Schedule Of The Delaware Constitution Relating To The Register Of Wills.

Sen. Margaret Henry [D]	Rep. John Mitchell [D]	Sen. Patricia Blevins [D]	Rep. Melanie Smith [D]
Sen. David Wilson [R]

Date	Chamber	Action
2016-05-05	Senate	Assigned to Executive Committee in Senate

Type	Source
Summary	http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis148.nsf/2bede841c6272c888025698400433a04/4e73f9fdb1ed1c7c85257fa80058f30c?OpenDocument
Text	http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis148.nsf/vwLegislation/SB+256/$file/legis.html?open