How to Avoid Probate in Connecticut: Trusts, Deeds, and POD Accounts

To avoid probate in Connecticut, you move property out of your solely owned estate before you die, using joint ownership with right of survivorship, payable-on-death and transfer-on-death beneficiary designations, a funded revocable living trust, and lifetime gifts. Each tool pulls specific assets out of the probate court’s reach. None of them is complete on its own, and a few Connecticut-specific rules can undo the planning if you miss them, especially the probate fee that still applies to assets that never see the courtroom and the requirement to file the will anyway.

Joint Ownership With Right of Survivorship

When property is held by two or more people as joint tenants with right of survivorship, the survivor automatically owns the whole thing at the moment the other owner dies. No court step is needed. For Connecticut real estate, C.G.S. § 47-14a requires the deed to use explicit survivorship language, running to the grantees “as joint tenants with right of survivorship” or to “the survivor of them.”¹ Without that language, the deed defaults to a tenancy in common, and the deceased owner’s share drops into their estate.

Bank accounts work the same way. Most joint checking and savings accounts carry rights of survivorship, so the surviving holder keeps the funds after presenting a death certificate.² An account titled as tenants in common does not transfer that way; the deceased owner’s share passes through probate.

The trade-off is real. Adding someone as a joint owner gives them equal access right now. A joint owner on your house can force a sale. A joint owner on your account can empty it. The property is also exposed to that person’s creditors and divorce. Between spouses this rarely matters. A parent adding an adult child to a deed should think it through.

Payable-On-Death and Transfer-On-Death Designations

Payable-on-death (POD) and transfer-on-death (TOD) designations name someone to receive the account’s funds at your death, outside of probate. Connecticut recognizes these for bank accounts, certificates of deposit, brokerage accounts, and other securities.³ You request a beneficiary designation form from the bank or brokerage, name your recipients, and keep full control during your lifetime. The beneficiary has no access until you die, and then claims the funds directly with ID and a death certificate.

Life insurance policies, 401(k)s, and IRAs operate the same way. If a living beneficiary is named, the proceeds bypass probate entirely. If no beneficiary is named, if everyone named has already died, or if the beneficiary is a minor, the money falls back into the estate and goes through probate.

These designations override your will. If the will leaves your savings to your daughter and the POD form on the account names your son, the son gets the account. This is the single most common planning mistake: people update their wills and forget the beneficiary forms, and the outdated form wins every time. Review the forms whenever your family situation changes.

Revocable Living Trusts

A revocable living trust is the most comprehensive probate-avoidance tool for Connecticut residents, particularly for real estate. You create the trust, name yourself as trustee so you keep control during your lifetime, and name a successor trustee to take over at your death or incapacity. Because the trust is a separate legal entity that does not die with you, the assets it holds pass to your beneficiaries under the trust’s terms, with no probate.

The trust document alone does nothing. Funding is what matters: you have to re-title your assets into the trust’s name. Your deed is updated to show the trust as owner. Bank and investment accounts are re-registered. A trust that was drafted but never funded is the most common failure mode, and the house still goes through probate.

After funding, keep up with it. A car bought next year, a new account opened down the road, or property you inherit later will not sit inside the trust automatically. Many planners pair the living trust with a pour-over will, which sweeps anything you forgot into the trust at your death. The pour-over will itself goes through probate, so it is a safety net rather than a substitute.

What About a Transfer-On-Death Deed for the House?

Connecticut currently has no transfer-on-death deed for real estate, so the choices for keeping a home out of probate have been joint ownership or a trust. In 2026, the Connecticut General Assembly introduced Raised Bill No. 5266, which would adopt the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act with an effective date of October 1, 2026.⁴ If enacted, an owner could record a deed naming a beneficiary who inherits at death, with no ownership interest handed over during the owner’s lifetime and full freedom to revoke, sell, or mortgage the property. The bill was not yet law at the time of writing, so confirm its status with the General Assembly or a Connecticut attorney before relying on it.

Lifetime Gifts

Property given away during your life is not in your estate when you die, so it does not enter probate. For 2026, federal law allows you to give up to $19,000 per recipient per year without filing a gift tax return, and a married couple can together give $38,000 per recipient.⁵ Gifts above that annual amount require a return but do not necessarily trigger tax; they draw down your lifetime exemption.

Connecticut imposes its own gift tax under C.G.S. § 12-640, using a unified system where lifetime gifts and the estate at death share one exemption.⁶ For 2025, that combined exemption was $13.99 million and is expected to stay near that level for 2026.⁷ Most residents will never owe state gift tax, but large transfers still require a Connecticut gift tax return.

Two catches. A gift is permanent; you cannot pull back a gifted house if you later need to sell it. And the recipient of a lifetime gift takes your original cost basis rather than the stepped-up basis they would get by inheriting at death. If you paid $100,000 for a house now worth $400,000 and gift it, your child pays capital gains on the $300,000 difference when they sell. Pass it through your estate and the basis steps up to $400,000, erasing that gain.

The Small Estate Affidavit

If the estate is small enough, Connecticut skips full probate. Under C.G.S. § 45a-273, when the deceased’s solely owned personal property totals $40,000 or less (not counting what passes outside probate) and the deceased owned no Connecticut real property, a surviving spouse, next of kin, or other interested party can file a sworn affidavit with the probate court instead of opening an estate.⁸ The affidavit lists the solely owned assets, lists debts and expenses, and states whether the deceased received state aid.

You file in the probate district where the deceased lived and pay the court fee; for estates in the $10,000 to $40,000 range, expect roughly $150 to $255 based on the statutory schedule.⁹ If everything checks out, the court issues a decree authorizing the transfers, which you then present to banks, the DMV, or other institutions. Forms and instructions are on the Connecticut Probate Court website.¹⁰

Probate Fees Apply Even When You Avoid Probate

This is the surprise that undoes a lot of planning. Connecticut calculates probate court fees from the gross estate for estate tax purposes, not just the assets that pass through probate.⁹ Jointly held property, trust assets, life insurance, retirement accounts, and POD/TOD accounts all count toward the fee basis, even though none of them pass through the court. The basis is the greatest of four valuations, whichever is highest.

The fee schedule for deaths on or after July 1, 2016:

$0 to $500: $25
$501 to $1,000: $50
$1,001 to $10,000: $50 plus 1% of the amount over $1,000
$10,001 to $500,000: $150 plus 0.35% of the amount over $10,000
$500,001 to $2,000,000: $1,865 plus 0.25% of the amount over $500,000
$2,000,001 to $8,877,000: $5,615 plus 0.5% of the amount over $2,000,000
$8,877,001 and over: $40,000

Property passing to a surviving spouse cuts the fee basis in half.⁹ A $1 million gross estate with no surviving spouse carries roughly $3,115 in court fees. The same estate with half going to a surviving spouse drops to about $2,490. Keeping assets out of probate still saves meaningful time, preserves privacy, and spares your family court appearances. It does not eliminate the court’s fee.

You Still Have to File the Will

Even when every asset is set up to pass outside probate, Connecticut requires the deceased person’s will to be delivered to the probate court within 30 days of death. Families who have done everything else right are often startled to learn the will itself still needs to be filed, even if the court will not be distributing anything.

Under C.G.S. § 53a-131, intentionally concealing or destroying a will is a Class A misdemeanor, carrying up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000. The statute reaches anyone who hides or destroys a will to defraud an heir. Even without that intent, sitting on a will creates problems for beneficiaries who later need the court’s record. If you hold a loved one’s will, deliver it to the probate court promptly, whether or not full administration will follow.

1
Justia Law. Connecticut Code 47-14a – Joint Tenancy in Fee Simple With Survivorship
2
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Happens if I Have a Joint Bank Account With Someone Who Died
3
Connecticut General Assembly. Office of Legislative Research – Uniform Transfer on Death Act
4
Connecticut General Assembly. Raised Bill No. 5266 – Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act
5
Internal Revenue Service. Frequently Asked Questions on Gift Taxes
6
Justia Law. Connecticut Code 12-642 – Rate of Tax, Aggregate Limit on Tax Imposed
7
Connecticut Department of Revenue Services. Estate and Gift Tax Information
8
Justia Law. Connecticut Code 45a-273 – Settlement of Small Estates Without Probate of Will or Letters of Administration
9
Connecticut Probate Courts. Connecticut Code 45a-107 – Fees and Expenses for Settlement of Decedents Estates
10
Connecticut Probate Courts. Connecticut Probate Courts