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). That simplified procedure is set out in Small estates, C.G.S. §45a-273. A funded living trust passes outside probate entirely, whatever the size of the estate — which is why Connecticut homeowners in particular set one up.

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, and at a much lower exemption: 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 a surviving spouse and minor children (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-320), protected ahead of most creditors.

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 before a Notary Public.
4. Sign the health care documents. Sign your Advance Health Care Directive in the presence of two adult witnesses and before a Notary Public, as the form’s execution block provides.
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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