Orange — Probate's Statement on Continuances

Source: https://www.occourts.org/system/files/statement_on_continuances.pdf

Superior Court of California County of Orange

Probate’s Statement on Continuances February 2021

As most counsel are aware, the Court’s calendars have increased exponentially during the pandemic. Many of those calendars reflect multiple continuances for notes to be cleared. In an effort to reduce calendar size and clear the Court’s backlog, the following policy is now in effect: “If notes have not been cleared by the third continuance, and depending on the matter before the Court, the petition may be dismissed without prejudice and the party bringing the petition may be required to pay the filing fee to re-file or an appointed personal representative, conservator or guardian may be suspended and an OSC re removal set.” This action is not taken lightly. The number of continuances occurring due to failure to clear notes has begun to interfere with the court’s ability to process, schedule and approve the matters which otherwise could be more quickly set for hearing. Matters continued multiple times for failure to clear notes should not prevent the approval of petitions which have been properly submitted. We acknowledge that some delays are caused by the significant back log in approving orders, letters, etc. In those cases, we will try and continue the matter out far enough that those submitted documents can be reviewed and, hopefully, approved so that another appearance is not necessary.