A Probate Matter: Who Should Speak?

Who should make the life-or-death decision for Girts Zukovs, a 33-year-old Latvian immigrant who lies in a permanent vegetative state in Hartford Hospital?

Zukovs, critically injured in a motorcycle accident last summer and comatose since his surgery went awry shortly after that, has little chance of recovery.

Should it be a girlfriend from years ago, a woman who has already hired lawyers to sue in a potential malpractice case — and who has said she wants Zukovs shipped back to Latvia, where hospitals say they are unable to care for him?

Or should it be his mother and sister, who live overseas, but who bitterly oppose the ex-girlfriend, Hartford Hospital and the cabal of lawyers crowding around this potentially lucrative case?

It seems clear to me. The courts should respect the family in a life-or-death situation like this.

The question is now before probate court, where Hartford Probate Judge Robert Killian will attempt to sort out the mess that began when Zukovs' motorcycle collided with a car last June 25.

These are the sort of life-and-death decisions that come before probate. It's why the legislature and Gov. Rell did the right thing this year when they required that new judges (but not the old ones!) be lawyers and receive professional training. But it also illustrates why more needs to be done: judges should be appointed based on merit, like Superior Court judges, not elected.


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A Probate Matter: Who Should Speak For A Comatose Latvian Immigrant?