Connecticut Form CT-706 NT: Filing, Fees, and Lien Release

Connecticut Form CT-706 NT is the estate tax return an executor files when a decedent’s Connecticut taxable estate falls at or below the state exemption, telling the Probate Court that no Connecticut estate tax is owed and clearing the automatic lien on any real property. You file it with the local Probate Court within six months of the date of death. For 2025 deaths the exemption is $13,990,000; for 2026 deaths it is $15,000,000, matching the federal basic exclusion amount.¹

When You Can Use CT-706 NT Instead of CT-706/709

Connecticut ties its estate tax exemption to the federal basic exclusion amount. If the Connecticut taxable estate is at or below that figure, the executor files Form CT-706 NT. If it exceeds the exemption by even a dollar, the estate must instead complete Form CT-706/709 and file it with both the Probate Court and the Department of Revenue Services.²

The Connecticut taxable estate is not just the value of what the decedent owned at death. It equals the federal gross estate minus allowable federal deductions, plus all Connecticut taxable gifts made on or after January 1, 2005, that are not already included in the gross estate, plus any Connecticut gift tax paid within the three years before death.³ Lifetime gifts can push an otherwise modest estate over the line, so account for every federal Form 709 the decedent filed going back to 2005 before deciding which return applies. If old gift returns are missing, request transcripts from the IRS using Form 4506-T.

How to Fill Out the Form

Download the fillable PDF from the Department of Revenue Services and use the version that matches the year of death.⁴ The return has three main sections and two gift schedules. Work them in the order they build on each other: the yes-or-no questions in Section 1, the property inventory in Section 3, and finally the computation in Section 2.

Section 1 — General Questions

Answer every question, even for a nonresident decedent.⁵ The questions cover:

Sole-ownership real estate, securities, bank accounts, and other personal property.
Joint property held with right of survivorship.
Life insurance in which the decedent held any incident of ownership. If yes, report the full proceeds in Section 3, Part 3.
Trust property. If yes, report date-of-death value in Section 3, Part 2.
Farmland valued under the special-use (Section 2032A) method, which requires an attached Schedule CT-706 Farmland.
Whether a federal Form 706 was filed. If yes, attach a complete copy with all supplemental documents.

Section 3 — Property Schedules

List every asset at fair market value on the date of death. Section 3 has three parts:⁶

Part 1, solely-owned property. Ownership percentage is 100%. Enter full fair market value in Column D, and note in Column E any portion passing to a surviving spouse.
Part 2, jointly-owned property and property passing outside the will. This includes joint-tenancy assets, trust property where a QTIP election was made, and property in which the decedent had a retained life estate. Report the full value of the entire asset, then enter the includible percentage and the resulting includible value.
Part 3, life insurance on the decedent’s life where the decedent held incidents of ownership. Report the full proceeds.

Include all property, real and personal, tangible and intangible, wherever located. Use specific descriptions: a street address and parcel ID for real estate, CUSIP numbers or account identifiers for securities, and account numbers for bank balances. Vague entries like “miscellaneous household items” invite follow-up questions from the court. For publicly traded securities, use the average of the high and low trading prices on the date of death. A recent property tax assessment can serve as a starting point for real estate, but larger or unusual holdings warrant a professional appraisal.

Section 2 — Connecticut Taxable Estate Computation

Section 2 pulls together the totals. Start with the gross estate figure carried from Section 4, Line 4, subtract allowable federal estate tax deductions other than the state death tax deduction under IRC § 2058, then add Connecticut taxable gifts.⁵ Line 6 is the Connecticut taxable estate. At or below the exemption for the year of death, sign and file. Above it, stop and switch to Form CT-706/709.

Gift Schedules A (NT) and B (NT)

Schedule A (NT) reports Connecticut taxable gifts made in the current year. Schedule B (NT) lists prior-year Connecticut taxable gifts made on or after January 1, 2005, but before January 1, 2025.⁶ Attach a copy of the federal Form 709 for each year listed.

Where and When to File

File Form CT-706 NT only with the Probate Court. It does not go to the Department of Revenue Services.⁴ For a Connecticut resident, file with the Probate Court for the district where the decedent lived. For a nonresident who owned Connecticut property, file with the district where the property is located.⁵ A court locator is available at ctprobate.gov.⁷

The deadline is six months from the date of death, and the court must physically receive the return by that date. A postmark does not count. If the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, filing on the next business day is timely.⁵

Need more time? File Form CT-706NT EXT, the extension application specific to the nontaxable return, before the original due date.⁴ Do not use Form CT-706/709 EXT, which extends the taxable return. Filing the wrong extension can leave the nontaxable return without a valid extension, and the Probate Court may begin accruing interest on probate fees 30 days after the original due date when no extension is on file.

Probate Court Fees

The Probate Court charges its own fee to process the estate, separate from any estate tax. For decedents dying on or after July 1, 2016, the fee is calculated on a sliding scale based on the greater of the gross estate, the inventory, or the Connecticut taxable estate:⁸

$0 to $500: $25
$501 to $1,000: $50
$1,000 to $10,000: $50 plus 1% of the amount over $1,000
$10,000 to $500,000: $150 plus 0.35% of the amount over $10,000
$500,000 to $2,000,000: $1,865 plus 0.25% of the amount over $500,000
$2,000,000 to $8,877,000: $5,615 plus 0.5% of the amount over $2,000,000
Over $8,877,000: $40,000, the statutory maximum

If a full estate is opened and the basis for fees is under $10,000, the minimum fee is $150 rather than the amount shown in the schedule. Fees are typically invoiced when the court receives the return and must be paid before the estate can be finalized.

Getting the Lien Released

Connecticut places an automatic lien on any real property in which a decedent held an interest, and the lien stays in place until the Probate Court confirms no estate tax is owed. For nontaxable estates, the Probate Court itself issues the certificate of release of lien after reviewing the CT-706 NT return. You do not need to contact the Department of Revenue Services.⁵

This release matters practically. Title companies will not insure a transaction while an estate tax lien is outstanding, so any delay in filing CT-706 NT directly delays a sale or transfer. If real estate needs to move quickly, get the return to the Probate Court well before the six-month deadline.

One Boundary: Federal Portability Is a Separate Filing

Filing CT-706 NT settles the estate’s Connecticut obligations. It does not preserve the decedent’s unused federal estate tax exemption for a surviving spouse. That election requires a separate federal Form 706, filed within nine months of death (fifteen months with an extension), even when no federal tax is owed.⁹ Connecticut has no portability equivalent, so the state exemption cannot be inherited by a surviving spouse regardless of what you file. If preserving the federal deceased spousal unused exclusion matters to the family, calendar the Form 706 deadline alongside the six-month CT-706 NT deadline; they are different forms, different destinations, and different due dates.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Estate Tax
2
Connecticut General Assembly. Connecticut Code Chapter 217 – Estate Tax
3
Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. Estate and Gift Tax Information
4
Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. Estate and Gift Tax
5
Connecticut Department of Revenue Services. 2025 Form CT-706 NT Instructions
6
Connecticut Department of Revenue Services. Form CT-706 NT – Connecticut Estate Tax Return (for Nontaxable Estates)
7
Connecticut Probate Courts. Court Locator
8
Connecticut General Assembly. Chapter 801b – Probate Court Procedures
9
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 706