NEW BRITAIN -- The Connecticut probate courts have supported themselves since colonial times from estate fees and other charges billed to people in their districts. But now the system is about to collapse under its own weight. The system of 123 courts is running a $3.2 million deficit with even greater losses projected in the years to come. Change may be coming to the probate courts -- not through political will or a few publicized scandals -- but out of sheer financial desperation. After Georgia, the geographically small state of Connecticut has more probate judges than possibly any other state in the country. But for two years in a row, the state legislature has backed away from court consolidation, responding to pressure from small-town judges whose jobs would be cut. .