Privacy Policy
The Worcester County Probate and Family Court respects and protects the privacy of our website users; however, as a public agency, the Worcester County Probate and Family Court may be required to disclose personal information in response to a valid legal process, such as a search warrant, subpoena, or court order, or pursuant to Massachusetts Laws and Practices.  

  

This policy does not apply to Worcester County Probate and Family Court employees, as Administrative Policy 1005 governs our employees.
Policy Revision and Notification of Changes
The Worcester County Probate and Family Court will update this policy as new services and features are added to the website. Users will be informed about policy changes through notices on this page, which will contain the date that the policy went into effect and the version number.
General Information
What Information About Users Does The Worcester County Probate and Family Court Collect?
A. Automatic Information
The following information is collected and stored automatically from all users accessing the Worcester County Probate and Family Court website:

  • The Internet domain and Internet Protocol address from which you access our site;
  • The type of browser and operating system used to access our site;
  •  The date and time you access our site;
  • The pages you visit; and
  • If you linked to the Worcester County Probate and Family Court website from another website, the address of that website.
    This information is used to create summary statistics, which are used, in part, to assess what information is of most interest to users, determine technical design specifications, and identify system performance or problem areas.
    This information is not reported or used in any manner that would reveal personally identifiable information, and will not be released to any outside (third) parties unless legally required.
B. Personal Information You Provide to Us
The Worcester County Probate and Family Court does not retain personally identifying information about you when you visit our website unless you choose to provide such information to us (i.e. sending an e-mail, participating in a survey, responding to a feedback or "contact us" form, or signing up for access to the electronic services of the Worcester County Probate and Family Court, etc.)
"Personally identifying information" is information that could reasonably be used to identify you. This includes, but is not limited to:
  • Your name
  • Your address
  • Your e-mail address
  • Your Social Security number
  • Your password
  • Bank account information
  • Credit card information
  • Your juris number
    • Any combination of data that could be used to identify you such as your birth date, your zip code and your gender.
    C. E-Mail Communications and Web Forms
    The Worcester County Probate and Family Court website may request personally identifying information from you in order to provide requested services, but such information is handled as it would be on an in-person visit to a Probate and Family Court or facility.
    If personal information is requested on the website or volunteered by the user, state law and the United States Privacy Act of 1974 may protect it. However, this information is a public record once you provide it, and may be subject to public inspection and copying if not protected by federal or state law. If you send us an electronic mail message with a question or comment that contains personally identifying information, or if you fill out a form that e-mails us information, we will only use this personally identifying information to respond to your request. We may redirect your message to another government agency or person who is in a better position to answer your question. If you register for access to the electronic services of the Worcester County Probate and Family Court, we will use this personally identifying information to provide you with the requested service.
    All e-mail messages collected by the Worcester County Probate and Family Court website contain the e-mail addresses of persons who voluntarily communicated with or requested information from us. When a user has given us their e-mail address for purposes of communicating with or requesting information from the Worcester County Probate and Family Court website, that communication becomes part of the public record and may be subject to public inspection and copying if not protected by federal or state law.
    Do the Worcester County Probate and Family Court use Cookies to Collect Information About a User?
    Certain Worcester County Probate and Family Court web pages use "cookies" which are small amounts of information stored by your web browser software on your computer. In most cases, this information is temporary in nature (called session cookies) and is deleted as soon as you leave the Worcester County Probate and Family Court website. The use of temporary cookies is solely for the purpose of allowing the user to interact with the Worcester County Probate and Family Court website in an effective manner. In a few cases, the Judicial Branch website uses cookies to store information for a longer period than the current session (persistent cookie). As noted above, in no case does the Worcester County Probate and Family Court disclose, give, sell, or transfer any personal information about Worcester County Probate and Family Court website visitors unless required for law enforcement or otherwise required by law.
    If you choose to do so, you can configure your browser to notify you when a new cookie is received. You can also prevent your browser from accepting any new cookies, view and delete existing cookies or disable cookies altogether, although disabling cookies will prevent you from participating in the Worcester County Probate and Family Court e-services.
    What is the Worcester County Probate and Family Court Commitment to Security?
    The Worcester County Probate and Family Court Information Technology Division, which manages the computers that support the Worcester County Probate and Family Court website, has put into place appropriate safeguards to ensure that any personal information is secure from destruction, corruption, unauthorized access and breach of confidentiality. This effort includes an ongoing review of safety measures, implementation of changes, and regular training for their personnel.
    Does the Worcester County Probate and Family Court link to other sites?
    The Worcester County Probate and Family Court website contains links to other websites created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for visitors' convenience. When you link to another site, you are no longer on the Worcester County Probate and Family Court website and this privacy notice does not apply. When you link to another website, you are subject to the privacy policy of that website.
    The Worcester County Probate and Family Court exercises no control over the views, accuracy, copyright or trademark compliance or the legality of the material contained on third party sites and does not sponsor, endorse or approve the information, content, products, materials, opinions or services contained on such external sites. The visitor proceeds to these external sites at their own risk. The Worcester County Probate and Family Court specifically disclaims any and all liability from damages which may result from the accessing of a third party site which is linked to the Worcester County Probate and Family Court website, or from reliance upon any such information.

    Terms and Conditions of Website Use
    Welcome. Thank you for visiting the Worcester County’s Probate and Family Court Website. As is true for many other websites, this Website has rules set forth in this Terms and Conditions of Use (Terms and Conditions) that apply to your use of this Website. By using this Website, you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the following Terms and Conditions. Please review them carefully. If you do not agree with any of these Terms and Conditions, please do not use this Website. The Worcester County Probate and Family Court may amend the Terms and Conditions at any time without specific notice to you. The latest Terms and Conditions will be posted on the Website, and your continued use of the Website shall be deemed your acceptance of any such changes.
     

    		  

    Information has been made available on this Website as a public service by the Worcester County Probate and Family Court. This Website was designed to be accessed by the average user to manually perform individual inquiries or searches for information.
    This Website was not designed to be subjected to high volume automated searches such as data mining, web mining, web harvesting, bulk extractions and/or any other similar conduct. The terms data mining, web mining, web harvesting and bulk extraction are used to refer to the process of gathering and organizing unstructured information from pages and data on the World Wide Web by utilizing software that automatically extracts information from the Web and automates the reading, copying and pasting necessary to collect large amounts of information.
    1. Right to Change This Website
    The Worcester County Probate and Family Court may discontinue, edit, delete or change any aspect of this Website, including, but not limited to: (i) restricting availability times, (ii) restricting compatibility with certain computer software or hardware, (iii) restricting amounts of use permitted, and (iv) restricting, suspending or terminating any user's right to use the Website, at the Worcester County Probate and Family Court’s sole and absolute discretion and without prior notice or liability.
    2. Prohibited Behavior
    You are prohibited from using this Website in any way to do any of the following:

    • restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the Website;
    • post or transmit any information, software, or other material which contains a virus or other harmful component;
    • perform bulk extractions, data mining, web mining, web harvesting and/or any other similar automated conduct, except as authorized in accordance with Section 3 below; or
    • perform any activity that the Worcester County Probate and Family Court determines, in its sole and absolute discretion, may be harmful to the Website or other users of the Website.

    NOTE: The Worcester County Probate and Family Court, in its sole and absolute discretion, reserves the right to immediately block access to this Website on a temporary or permanent basis if you engage in any of the prohibited behavior listed above.
    3. Request for Bulk Distribution or Data in a Specialized Format
    Anyone who wishes to obtain bulk distribution or data in a specialized format (i.e. compiled) must request authorization from the Worcester County Probate and Family Court, which may impose a service charge or assess a user fee as part of its authorization of such request.
    4. No Unlawful Purposes
    You agree that you will not use the Website or any information or services related thereto for any unlawful purpose. The Worcester County Probate and Family Court, in its sole and absolute discretion, shall determine whether any use violates this provision.
    5. Monitoring
    You understand that the Worcester County Probate and Family Court has no obligation to monitor the Website. However, the Worcester County Probate and Family Court reserves the right at all times to disclose any information as necessary to satisfy any law, regulation or governmental request, or to refuse to post or to remove any information or materials, in whole or in part, that in the Worcester County Probate and Family Court’s sole and absolute discretion are objectionable or in violation of these Terms and Conditions. You acknowledge that the Worcester County Probate and Family Court reserves the right to, and may from time to time, monitor any and all information transmitted or received through this Website, for operational and other purposes, subject to the Worcester County Probate and Family Court Privacy Policy. During monitoring, information may be examined, recorded, copied and used for authorized purposes in accordance with the Worcester County Probate and Family Court’s Privacy Policy. Use of this Website constitutes consent to such monitoring.