When it appears to the Court of Probate that the assets of the estate of any deceased person in settlement before the court, exclusive of the articles which may be legally set out to the surviving spouse and the allowance for support of such spouse and that of the family of the deceased, will not be more than sufficient to pay the funeral expenses, the expenses of settling the estate, the expenses of the last sickness and the lawful taxes and claims due the state of Connecticut and the United States, the court may, after notice and hearing, ascertain the amount of such funeral and other expenses and of such taxes and preferred claims, and order that the settlement of the estate be completed without following the procedures otherwise required by sections 45a-376 to 45a-382, inclusive.