1. The chief judge of the judicial district may appoint a referee in probate for the auditing of the accounts of fiduciaries and for the performance of other ministerial duties the chief judge prescribes. A person shall not be appointed as referee in a matter where the person is acting as a fiduciary or as the attorney.
2. The chief judge of the judicial district may appoint the clerk as referee in probate. In such cases, the fees received by the clerk for serving in the capacity of referee are fees of the office of the clerk of court and shall be deposited in the account established under section 602.8108.
3. A person appointed as an associate probate judge shall have jurisdiction to audit accounts of fiduciaries and to perform ministerial duties as a referee provided in this section and shall have additional jurisdiction to perform the judicial functions provided in section 633.20D.
83 Acts, ch 186, §10122, 10201; 93 Acts, ch 70, §11; 94 Acts, ch 1074, §11; 99 Acts, ch 93, §11; 2000 Acts, ch 1057, §17; 2010 Acts, ch 1159, §13