ALTHOUGH THEY ARE the smallest units of the court system, the Probate Court and Family Division have also been severely affected by the financial constraints of the current budget. Currently the Probate Court has a system wide vacancy rate of nearly 18 percent and the Family Division has about a 21 percent vacancy rate.

Particularly hard-hit are probate courts in Rockingham and Hillsborough counties. At the probate court in Brentwood, there are four vacancies out of 10 budgeted positions. The workload in some departments is over eight weeks old, but the court has remained open the usual hours. Hillsborough County probate, where five of 16 positions are vacant, closes for the afternoon each day to allow staff sufficient time to process cases. Other probate courts have dealt with their shortages by limiting telephone or public access to some extent.

"A two-month delay is very unfortunate and can have many effects," said Probate Court Administrative Judge John R. Maher, interviewed in early October. "A lot can happen to an estate while people await appointment as fiduciaries in probate matters, or to a child awaiting approval of a guardianship," Maher pointed out.

In the Family Division of Rockingham County, there are five unfilled jobs in the Brentwood, Derry, Portsmouth and Salem locations. The Grafton County Family Division has two unfilled slots out of 10.

"Employees have done a commendable job to work under these conditions and are doing everything possible to keep the work moving," Judge Maher said. "However, I worry about the eventual toll it will take on them."

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