Connecticut living trusts & estate documents

Living trust law in Connecticut

A revocable living trust holds your home, accounts, and other property during your life, you stay in full control as trustee and can change or revoke it any time, then passes it to your beneficiaries without probate when you're gone. In Connecticut, trusts are governed by the Connecticut Uniform Trust Code, C.G.S. §45a-499a et seq..

Avoiding probate in Connecticut

Probate in Connecticut is governed by the C.G.S. Title 45a and handled by a dedicated Probate Court. Estates are administered in the Probate Court.

Connecticut's small-estate procedure is an affidavit filed with the Probate Court, available when solely owned personal property is $40,000 or less and there is no solely owned real estate (C.G.S. § 45a-273). Assets held in a funded living trust pass to your beneficiaries without probate, whatever the size of the estate. Many Connecticut homeowners set one up for that reason.

In Connecticut, creditors generally have 150 days from the appointment of the first fiduciary to file claims against the estate (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-356), one reason court probate takes time that a funded trust avoids.

Estate and inheritance tax in Connecticut

Connecticut levies its own estate tax on top of the federal one: Connecticut has a state estate and gift tax; its exemption tracks the federal exclusion, $15 million in 2026, and the tax is a flat 12% on the amount above it. The separate federal estate tax reaches only estates above $15 million per person (2026, adjusted yearly), so most families never owe it.

Protecting a surviving spouse in Connecticut

A surviving spouse in Connecticut who is left out of the will can instead claim a life estate in one-third of the property passing under the will under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-436, a protection the will itself cannot override.

Connecticut also sets aside a discretionary family allowance for support during administration for the surviving spouse or family of the deceased, in the amount the Probate Court judges necessary (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-320).

Signing your Connecticut documents

1. Sign the living trust. Executed and acknowledged before a notary.
2. Sign the will. Two witnesses; notarized self-proving affidavit included (standalone and pour-over wills).
3. Sign the power of attorney. Sign your Durable Power of Attorney in the presence of two witnesses, who also sign, and before a Notary Public.
4. Sign the health care documents. Sign your Health Care Instructions, Appointment of Health Care Representative, and Document of Anatomical Gift in the presence of two adult witnesses, who then sign the witness statement. The person you appoint as your health care representative may not be a witness. The self-proving affidavit at the end of the form is optional; if you use it, the two witnesses sign it before a Notary Public.
5. Follow your package instructions. Your package includes page-by-page signing instructions written for Connecticut. Follow those as the authoritative guide.

Serving all of Connecticut

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