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Interpreters for Probate and Guardianship Hearings

Probate court handles guardianships of children, guardianships and conservatorships of adults, and the estates of people who have died. If you are a party and need an interpreter in the courtroom, ask the court first: most state courts provide one, though how firmly depends on the state and the case type. This page sets out a few states' rules, then the work outside the courtroom — the person at the center of a conservatorship, heirs in other countries, a guardian learning their duties — that lawyers and families book us for.

In a guardianship or probate hearing, ask the court for the interpreter first

New York. In all civil cases in the trial courts, when a party or witness cannot meaningfully take part in English, the clerk schedules an interpreter at no expense, and may allow interpreting by telephone or video. A party who is not testifying may waive the court's interpreter and bring their own at their own expense, with the court's consent (22 NYCRR 217.1).

California. The courts tell the public that court interpreters are provided free of charge, on request in advance. In civil cases, when funding does not cover everyone, courts follow the case-type priorities in Evidence Code 756: Tulare and Santa Barbara publish them, with guardianship and conservatorship at priority 4 of 8, and "other civil cases" — where estate and trust matters, which the list does not name, would fall — last (Santa Barbara). San Francisco provides an interpreter at no cost in conservatorship and guardianship cases and accepts requests for other civil case types subject to availability; if the court cannot provide one, it says you may bring your own certified, registered or qualified interpreter.

Washington. A party, a person subpoenaed or compelled to appear, or a parent, guardian or custodian of a juvenile is not responsible for the cost of the interpreter in all legal proceedings (RCW 2.43.081), which the statute defines as any proceeding in any court (RCW 2.43.020). Other states have their own rules; your court's language access page will say how to ask. Who books us: attorneys, fiduciaries and families, for everything outside the courtroom — California notes that court interpreters cannot typically provide services outside of the courtroom — and parties whose court cannot supply an interpreter for their case type and lets them bring one. If the court requires a credential, tell us which when you request; we confirm whether we can staff it before you book.

When the person at the center of the case needs the interpreter

In an adult guardianship or conservatorship, the person whose care or money is being placed under someone else's control is often an older parent who never learned English well, or who has lost it. They have the most at stake and the least say in arranging anything, and the relative who filed the petition is usually the one who speaks for them. That relative should not be their interpreter, in court or in the lawyer's office: the petitioner has an interest in the outcome, and the person may not object to them in front of them.

Interpreting someone whose capacity is in question takes discipline. A confused or rambling answer has to come through confused or rambling: the interpreter who quietly makes it coherent has changed the evidence, and the one who summarizes it has hidden it. Hearing loss, fatigue and medication matter too. Short sessions in the morning, seated face to face, with the interpreter speaking slowly and the attorney checking understanding in plain questions, work better than one long afternoon.

Guardians and their duties, in their own language

A guardian of a child takes on the child's care and decisions — school, medical care, housing — and the court stays involved and supervises until the guardianship ends; a guardianship of the child's estate carries strict rules on how the money is handled (California Courts). A grandmother appointed guardian who reads only Tagalog or Vietnamese still has to understand the order, the reports she will owe the court and what she may and may not do with the child's money.

That is a meeting with the attorney after the hearing, through an interpreter, with the order in front of both of them: the interpreter reads the key passages aloud in her language (sight translation) while the attorney explains them. Orders and letters she will have to show a school or a bank are better translated in writing; a sight translation in the lawyer's office is not a document she can carry.

Heirs, executors and family in other countries

Estates of immigrants often have heirs abroad: a sibling in Mexico, children in the Philippines, a parent in Poland. The administrator or the attorney has to explain what the court requires of them, what they are being asked to sign, what the inventory and the accounting say, and when they can expect a distribution. Those are video calls across time zones, consecutive, often with several relatives on the line at once — which works only if one person speaks at a time and the interpreter can say who is speaking.

• Send the documents first. If the interpreter will read a waiver, a notice or an accounting aloud in the heir's language, send it a day ahead.
• Keep interpreting and advice apart. The interpreter renders what the attorney says; questions about what an heir should do go to the attorney, not to the interpreter.
• Anything an heir signs should exist in writing in a language they read; an interpreted call explains it but does not replace a translation.
• One interpreter per language. Heirs in two countries who speak different languages need two interpreters, or two calls.

Booking around a probate case

A video call with heirs abroad is $80 for the first hour per interpreter, with no travel; a ninety-minute call is $120. A meeting at the law office with a proposed conservatee and their attorney is in person at $110 an hour with a two-hour minimum — $220 — plus travel at $0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location, confirmed before you book; at a care facility, tell us the facility's visiting rules. Limited-availability languages add 25–30%. Full-day proceedings may need two interpreters in relay.

For the hearing itself, file the court's interpreter request as early as the court asks. Wills, death certificates and court orders that must be filed or sent abroad are written translation; see will and probate translation.

By video, by phone or in person

Virtual interpreting runs on Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams, or over the telephone. It is quicker to arrange, costs less and carries no travel charge, and it suits appointments, calls and most meetings.

In person is what venues with their own rules tend to expect, and the right choice when documents are being signed or several people are speaking at once. Tell us the platform, or the city and the venue, when you send the request.

Languages

The standard-availability languages are: Spanish, Portuguese, French, Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, Russian, Korean, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, Polish, Italian, German, Japanese, Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Tagalog, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Armenian, Greek, Hebrew, Romanian, Serbian, Bosnian, Somali and Nepali. Every other language we offer carries the 25–30% limited-availability rate. If a language is not on that list it is not because we cannot do it — it is because the pool of qualified interpreters in the United States is small enough that we will not promise a date without checking.

Each language has its own page on what to watch for — dialects, names, dates, who the speakers usually are: see interpreters by language.

What it costs

Rates are per interpreter, per hour, and billed from the scheduled start time rather than from when everyone actually arrives.

• Virtual — $80 per hour, one-hour minimum. Zoom, Google Meet, Teams or telephone.
• In person — $110 per hour, two-hour minimum.
• Limited-availability languages — add 25–30%. Which languages those are is listed below rather than left vague.
• Travel for in-person work — $0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location.

How the travel charge works out

Travel is charged at $0.70 per mile from the interpreter's location, which means you can work it out rather than wait for a quote: a 20-mile round trip is $14, a 60-mile round trip is $42, a 150-mile round trip is $105. There is no separate call-out fee on top.

We will not pretend to know in advance where the interpreter will be coming from — that depends on the language, the date and the venue. What we do is confirm the interpreter and the exact travel figure before you book, so it is never a surprise on the invoice. Virtual assignments carry no travel charge at all, which is one reason most of what we do is virtual.

How booking an interpreter works

• You send the request with the form below: the language, the setting, the format, the date and how long it should last.
• We confirm before you commit: the interpreter, the exact price and the travel figure if there is one. We reply the same business day, and no payment is taken at this stage.
• You confirm, and the interpreter is booked for your date.

What to have ready

The more of this comes in the first message, the fewer exchanges before you have a price:

• The language, the date, the start time and how long it should run.
• Virtual or in person: the platform, or the city and the venue.
• The setting and the subject matter.
• How many people need interpreting for.
• Any credential the venue requires of the interpreter.

Request an interpreter

Tell us the date, the language and the setting and we will come back with the interpreter, the exact price and the travel figure if there is one — before you commit to anything.

Sources

What this page says about the rules was checked against these official sources on October 28, 2026. Rules change; the source is always the authority.

• Judicial Council of California — California Courts Self-Help Guide: Ask for an interpreter
• Judicial Council of California — California Courts Self-Help Guide: Probate guardianships in California
• Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco — Interpreter Division
• Superior Court of California, County of Tulare — Court Interpreters (Evidence Code 756 priorities)
• Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara — Interpreters / Language Access (Evidence Code 756 priorities)
• New York Unified Court System — 22 NYCRR 217.1, Obligation to appoint interpreter in court proceedings in the trial courts (LII)
• Washington State Legislature — RCW 2.43.081, Cost of providing interpreter (as amended 2025)
• Washington State Legislature — RCW 2.43.020, Definitions

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