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Settlement of small estates without probate of will or let…Verified against the statute July 29, 2026

Connecticut Small Estate Affidavit

Connecticut lets the next of kin collect a deceased person’s property without opening probate when the estate is worth $40,000 or less and 30 days have passed since the death. Here is exactly how it works, and how to use it.

Check if you qualifyHow to use it

Connecticut at a glance

Estate value limit
$40,000
Gross value
Wait after death
30 days
Before the affidavit can be presented
File with a court?
Yes, required
Court approval comes first
Covers real property?
No
Real property needs the court
Notary required?
No
No notarization required
Who can sign
Filed by, in statutory order of preference: (1)…
Per the statute

Is your estate under the $40,000 limit?

Enter a rough total of what they owned in their own name alone. Leave out jointly-held accounts and anything with a named beneficiary. Those don’t count.

Nothing you type here is saved or sent anywhere.

The $40,000 limit, and what actually counts

Aggregate fair market value of the decedent's solely owned tangible and intangible personal property, excluding property that passes outside of probate by operation of law (survivorship accounts/property, beneficiary-designated assets, trust property). Survivorship assets may exceed $40,000 without disqualifying the estate. Gross value, debts and funeral expenses are not subtracted in testing the cap. The decedent must additionally have owned no solely owned real property in Connecticut.

What doesn't count toward the limit

This is where most people wrongly rule themselves out. In Connecticut, these are left out of the calculation:

  • Payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts
  • Life insurance with a living named beneficiary
  • Retirement accounts with a living named beneficiary
  • Property already held in a trust
  • Real property
  • Funeral and last-illness expenses

The 30-day waiting period

There is no mandatory waiting period after date of death. Connecticut is unlike CA (40 days) / TX (30 days) / UPC states (30 days): C.G.S. § 45a-273 imposes no minimum elapsed time before the PC-212 affidavit may be filed, and PC-212 states no such requirement. The 30 days that appears everywhere online is a court-side hold, not a filing prerequisite: under § 45a-273(c) the court, on receipt of the affidavit, sends a copy to the Department of Administrative Services, and 'The court shall not issue a decree until thirty days after the date on which a copy of the affidavit was sent to the department.' So the 30 days runs from the date the court sends the copy to DAS, not from the date of death and not from the filing date. Practical effect: file immediately, but expect roughly 30-45 days before the decree issues. Except for that DAS hold, the court may act on the affidavit without notice and hearing (§ 45a-273(c)). Separate, unrelated 30-day deadline: any person holding the decedent's original will must deliver it to the Probate Court in the district where the decedent lived within 30 days after death (Ch. 802b; stated in the official Probate Court user guide, Part II Q.7), a deadline, not a waiting period.

Who can sign the affidavit

Filed by, in statutory order of preference: (1) the surviving spouse; (2) if there is no surviving spouse, a next of kin of the decedent; (3) if there is no surviving spouse or next of kin, or if the spouse/next of kin has refused to file, any person whom the court deems to have a sufficient interest in the decedent's estate (PC-212 requires the petitioner to state that interest). Signed by the petitioner alone under penalty of false statement; no notary block and no witnesses on the official form.

Either. Works for both testate and intestate decedents. PC-212 has express checkboxes: 'The decedent left a will dated ______, which is not being presented for probate' or 'The decedent left no will.' The will is not admitted to probate in a small estate: but the original will must still be delivered to the Probate Court in the district where the decedent lived within 30 days of death (criminal penalties for failure to produce a will), and where the decedent left no probate assets passing under it, the will is filed with an Affidavit for Filing Will Not Submitted for Probate, Form PC-211, and not admitted. The court takes the will's terms into account in ordering distribution of any surplus, and PC-212A requires the names and addresses of all heirs and of any beneficiaries under a purported will.

Can it transfer a house or land in Connecticut?

No real property may pass under the small estate procedure, and Connecticut has no companion small-value real-property affidavit (there is no CT equivalent of Cal. Prob. Code § 13200). C.G.S. § 45a-273(a) requires that 'the decedent had no solely owned real property in this state at the time of his or her death.' PC-212 requires the petitioner to affirm: 'The decedent died owning no real estate, other than survivorship real estate, if any, in the State of Connecticut.' Survivorship (joint-with-right-of-survivorship) real estate does not disqualify because it passes by operation of law outside probate. If the decedent owned any solely owned CT real estate of any value, full administration/probate of will is required. There is no dollar-value carve-out. Once an estate is opened, record title in the heirs/devisees is evidenced of record by a Certificate of Devise, Descent or Distribution issued by the Probate Court and recorded in the land records of each town where the property lies, under C.G.S. § 45a-450 (Probate Court Form PC-250), within one month after the devise/distribution or after acceptance of the final account. The fiduciary must also record a Notice for Land Records/Appointment of Fiduciary, PC-251, within two months of appointment.

How to use a small estate affidavit in Connecticut

  1. 1

    Confirm you're under the limit and past the wait

    Add up the property that passes through the estate and check it against the $40,000 ceiling. Aggregate fair market value of the decedent's solely owned tangible and intangible personal property, excluding property that passes outside of probate by operation of law (survivorship accounts/property, beneficiary-designated assets, trust property). Survivorship assets may exceed $40,000 without disqualifying the estate. Gross value, debts and funeral expenses are not subtracted in testing the cap. The decedent must additionally have owned no solely owned real property in Connecticut.

  2. 2

    Gather the documents

    You'll need certified copies of the death certificate: order at least three, since institutions often keep one: plus account numbers, the vehicle title or VIN, and the names and addresses of every heir.

  3. 3

    Complete the affidavit

    Fill in Settlement of small estates without probate of will or letters of administration, filed on Probate Court Form PC-212, "Affidavit in Lieu of Probate of Will/Administration" (Rev. 07/23). Note: this is not a self-executing affidavit handed to a bank; it is a petition filed in the Probate Court, which then issues a decree (PC-264/PC-264S) that the asset holder honors., listing the decedent, the heirs and their relationships, the assets and their values, and the known debts.

  4. 4

    File it with the probate court

    Mandatory court filing and a court decree. This is the single most-misdescribed feature of Connecticut practice: the PC-212 is filed with the Probate Court for the district where the decedent resided (PC-212 instruction 3). It is not presented directly to a bank the way a UPC-style small estate affidavit is. Filing package: PC-212, a copy of the death certificate with the SSN redacted, Confidential Information Sheet PC-212CI (with the SSN), plus PC-212A (Request for Order of Distribution) if assets exceed expenses and claims or if a person who paid expenses from nonprobate assets waives reimbursement. The court sends a copy to the Dept. of Administrative Services, waits 30 days, then under § 45a-273 issues a decree authorizing each holder or registrant of an asset to (1) transfer the asset directly to specified persons or entities, (2) pay amounts from the asset to specified persons or entities, or (3) transfer the asset to the person filing the affidavit to be sold and the proceeds paid to specified persons or entities. The decree is the operative instrument the bank/DMV/employer honors (CT DMV names it 'Transfer of Personal Property without Probate Proceedings,' Form PC-264 or PC-264S); a Petitioner's Probate Certificate, PC-212B, is also issued/available. FEE: no flat small-estate fee. C.G.S. § 45a-107(b)(2) sliding scale on the basis for fees: $0-$500 = $25; $501-$1,000 = $50; $1,000-$10,000 = $50 plus 1% of the excess over $1,000; $10,000-$500,000 = $150 plus 0.35% of the excess over $10,000. Minimum $25. The $150 minimum in § 45a-107(b)(3) applies only where the basis is under $10,000 and 'a full estate is opened,' so it does not apply to a PC-212 small estate. Any portion of the basis passing to the surviving spouse is reduced by 50%. Worked example: a $40,000 basis with no spousal reduction = $150 + 0.35% x $30,000 = $255.

  5. 5

    Present it to whoever holds the property

    The bank, transfer agent, employer, insurer or DMV does not act on the affidavit. It acts on the court decree. Under § 45a-273 the decree authorizes each holder or registrant of an asset to transfer the asset directly to specified persons or entities, to pay amounts from the asset to specified persons or entities, or to transfer the asset to the affiant to be sold with the proceeds paid to specified persons or entities. Safe harbor: § 45a-273(g) provides that 'Any such transfer or payment made pursuant to a decree issued under this section shall, to the extent of the amount so transferred or paid, discharge the registrant or holder of such property from liability.' The discharge is expressly tied to the decree, so an institution presented with a bare PC-212 (no decree) has no statutory protection and should be expected to refuse. Per the official Probate Court user guide, the procedure is effective for bank accounts, shares of corporate stock, bonds, unpaid wages, death benefits, insurance proceeds and motor vehicles. § 45a-273(j) shifts the recovery risk to the recipient, not the paying institution.

Where to take the signed affidavit

The bank

The bank, transfer agent, employer, insurer or DMV does not act on the affidavit. It acts on the court decree. Under § 45a-273 the decree authorizes each holder or registrant of an asset to transfer the asset directly to specified persons or entities, to pay amounts from the asset to specified persons or entities, or to transfer the asset to the affiant to be sold with the proceeds paid to specified persons or entities. Safe harbor: § 45a-273(g) provides that 'Any such transfer or payment made pursuant to a decree issued under this section shall, to the extent of the amount so transferred or paid, discharge the registrant or holder of such property from liability.' The discharge is expressly tied to the decree, so an institution presented with a bare PC-212 (no decree) has no statutory protection and should be expected to refuse. Per the official Probate Court user guide, the procedure is effective for bank accounts, shares of corporate stock, bonds, unpaid wages, death benefits, insurance proceeds and motor vehicles. § 45a-273(j) shifts the recovery risk to the recipient, not the paying institution.

The DMV

No separate small-estate vehicle affidavit exists. Motor vehicles are ordinary personal property counted toward the $40,000 and are listed on PC-212 by VIN; the Probate Court decree transfers them. CT DMV: the applicant registers/titles using Application for Registration and Title, Form H-13B, together with an original certified Probate Court document showing authority to dispose of the vehicle, and DMV's own page states that where the estate falls within the statutory monetary limits 'the court may authorize the transfer of the decedent's vehicle by issuing a Transfer of Personal Property without Probate Proceedings (form PC-264 or PC-264S).' The immediate-family transfer sales-tax exemption is claimed in a section of H-13B (DMV's page cites section 5; a secondary source cites section 7, verify against the current H-13B), generally requiring the vehicle to have been registered in the family member's name for at least 60 days. Separate, non-probate route: under C.G.S. § 14-16 the owner may designate a beneficiary on the vehicle registration certificate; the beneficiary takes ownership on death but must apply to DMV within 60 days of the date of death. Vehicles passing that way are outside probate and outside the $40,000 count.

The employer

Final wages and accrued leave can usually be claimed with the same affidavit. Ask their payroll department what they need, most have a standard process.

Debts and your personal liability

Debts must be disclosed and are paid through the decree. This is a creditor-protective procedure, not a bare collection affidavit. PC-212 requires the petitioner to list every claim, expense and tax in the § 45a-365 priority categories: (1) funeral expenses; (2) administration expenses (probate fees, attorney's fees); (3) claims due for last sickness; (4) taxes and claims due the State of Connecticut or the United States; (5) all other known debts (credit cards, utilities, etc.), with the creditor's name, amount, and, if already paid, the name and address of the person to be reimbursed. The affidavit must also state whether the decedent, spouse or children ever received aid or care from the State of Connecticut; if so, the estate must be applied in the manner prescribed by C.G.S. § 17b-95 (state-aid reimbursement) or § 18-85b (incarceration costs), which is why every affidavit is copied to the Dept. of Administrative Services and held 30 days. Assets are used first to pay funeral expenses and administration expenses, then last-illness and other claims, or to reimburse a person who paid those expenses from nonprobate assets; only the remainder is distributed to heirs/beneficiaries. Affiant/recipient liability: under § 45a-273(j) a person receiving a transfer is liable to the Commissioner of Revenue Services for applicable transfer taxes and is liable to any executor or administrator subsequently appointed, i.e., if a full estate is later opened, the recipient must give the property back. The representations on PC-212 are made under penalty of false statement (a criminal exposure). A Connecticut estate tax return (Form CT-706 NT) is still required even for a small estate and is due six months after death.

When you can’t use it

Connecticut takes the affidavit route off the table when:

  • Decedent owned solely owned real estate in Connecticut at death (survivorship real estate does not disqualify). C.G.S. § 45a-273(a)
  • Aggregate fair market value of solely owned tangible and intangible personal property exceeds $40,000
  • A petition for settlement of the estate is already pending in any Connecticut Probate Court (express representation required on PC-212)
  • Need for a fiduciary with ongoing powers, e.g., a wrongful-death or other claim to prosecute, a business to run, litigation, or assets requiring sale beyond what the decree authorizes, requires full administration
  • Insolvency/contested claims: if assets are inadequate to pay debts, the estate should be settled as an insolvent estate under formal administration
  • A dispute over the will's validity or over heirship, the small estate decree is entered without notice and hearing (except the DAS 30-day hold), so contested matters belong in full probate
  • Out-of-state real property or a nonresident decedent's CT real property still requires a probate proceeding for that real estate

If any of those apply, a probate attorney is the right call. A typical small-estate proceeding runs $1,000–$3,000 plus the court’s fee.

Connecticut small estate affidavit FAQ

Statute and sources

Last verified July 29, 2026. No change to the $40,000 threshold found for 2023-2026. Verification performed: (a) the FindLaw statutory text of § 45a-273 is marked current as of Jan. 1, 2025 and reads 'forty thousand dollars'; (b) the official CT Probate Courts form PC-212 was last revised 07/2023 and states $40,000; (c) the official Probate Court Administrator user guide: which is current enough to state the 2026 Connecticut estate tax exemption of $15,000,000 and the 2026 federal exemption of $15,000,000, still states $40,000 in Part II Q.6; (d) targeted searches for 'Connecticut small estate affidavit limit 2026', 'Connecticut small estate threshold increase' and for 2024/2025/2026 Public Acts amending 45a-273 returned no amendment. The last substantive restructuring located was P.A. 15-217, which deleted former subsecs. (a)-(d) and added new subsecs. re settlement of estates not exceeding $40,000, i.e., the $40,000 figure predates 2015 and was carried forward, which is why thresholdYear is reported as null rather than guessed. Adjacent 2026 change to be aware of (different statute, frequently confused by users): the Connecticut estate tax exemption is $15,000,000 for deaths on or after Jan. 1, 2026, and a CT-706 NT return is still required even for a $40,000 small estate.

  • Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-273 (formerly § 45-266). Settlement of small estates without probate of will or letters of administration
  • Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-273(a). $40,000 personal-property cap; no solely owned CT real property; who may file
  • Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-273(b), required contents of the affidavit
  • Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-273(c), copy to Dept. of Administrative Services; no decree until 30 days after that copy is sent
  • Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-273(g), discharge of the holder/registrant who transfers or pays under the decree
  • Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-273(j), transferee liability to the Commissioner of Revenue Services and to a later-appointed fiduciary
  • Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-365. Order of priority for payment of claims, expenses and taxes
  • Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 17b-95, 18-85b, state-aid and incarceration-cost reimbursement (referenced on PC-212)
  • Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-107. Probate Court fees for settlement of a decedent's estate
  • Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-450. Certificate of devise, descent or distribution of real property to be recorded in the land records
  • Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-12a. Affidavit of facts relating to title or interest in real estate (evidentiary only)
  • Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-16, beneficiary designation on a motor vehicle registration; beneficiary must apply to DMV within 60 days of death
  • Conn. Probate Court Rules of Procedure § 30.12, small estates (cross-referenced on PC-212)

What we're less sure about

  • Could not fetch the Connecticut General Assembly's own statute page (https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_802b.htm), every attempt failed with 'unable to verify the first certificate' (TLS chain error), and Justia returned HTTP 403. Statutory text was therefore read on FindLaw's code page (verbatim reproduction, current as of Jan. 1, 2025) and corroborated against two official ctprobate.gov publications. A final pre-launch check of the CGA text is recommended.
  • The section-by-section history/credits note for § 45a-273 (list of amending Public Acts and their effective dates) could not be retrieved from any source, so the exact year the $40,000 figure took effect is unknown; thresholdYear is null rather than estimated.
  • Full verbatim text of subsections (d) through (j) was summarized by the fetch tool rather than quoted in full; subsection letters for the discharge provision (g) and transferee-liability provision (j) come from that summarization and should be spot-checked before being printed in a customer-facing citation.
  • Form numbers PC-212B (Petitioner's Probate Certificate) and PC-264 / PC-264S (Transfer of Personal Property Without Probate Proceedings) were confirmed from the CT DMV page and form indexes, not read on the official PDFs; the difference between PC-264 and PC-264S was not determined.
  • Whether the sales-tax-exemption block on the current Form H-13B is section 5 or section 7 is reported inconsistently across sources; verify against the live H-13B before instructing users.
  • Probate Court Rules of Procedure § 30.12 (cross-referenced on PC-212) was not read; it may add local procedural detail such as required attachments or valuation documentation.
  • The statute number for the 30-day duty to deliver an original will to the Probate Court was not independently verified (the 30-day duty itself is stated in the official Probate Court user guide, Part II Q.7).
  • Whether individual Probate Court districts impose local practice requirements (e.g., a notarized signature despite the form's 'penalty of false statement' language, or bank-specific documentation) was not researched; some banks are known to demand notarization as an internal policy even where the statute does not.
  • One or more statutory citations could not be independently confirmed.

Kinclaim is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. We provide self-help software and statutory forms.