Connecticut Intestate Succession: Spouse, Children, and Heirs

Under Connecticut intestate succession, when a person dies without a will, state statute decides who inherits. The surviving spouse comes first, with a share that shifts depending on whether the deceased also left children or parents. If there is no spouse, the estate flows to children, then to grandchildren by representation, then outward to parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, and more distant kin. Only when no heir can be found does the property go to the state. The core rules sit in Connecticut General Statutes sections 45a-437 through 45a-439.

What the Surviving Spouse Inherits

A spouse’s share is not fixed. It depends on who else survives the deceased.

If there are no children, no grandchildren, and no living parents, the spouse takes the entire estate. If the deceased’s parents are alive but there are no descendants, the spouse receives the first $100,000 plus three-quarters of the balance, and the parents split what is left.¹

Children change the picture. If all of the deceased’s children are also children of the surviving spouse, the spouse gets the first $100,000 plus half of the remainder, and the children divide the other half equally. If any child is not also the spouse’s child, the $100,000 preference disappears. The spouse takes a flat one-half, and the children share the other half.¹

Connecticut does not recognize common-law marriage. A long-term partner who was never legally married to the deceased inherits nothing under these rules, no matter how long they lived together.²

What Children and Grandchildren Inherit

With no surviving spouse, the children take the entire estate in equal shares. When a spouse survives too, the children divide whatever remains after the spouse’s portion.³

A child who died before the deceased is represented by that child’s own descendants, who split the share their parent would have taken. If you had three children and one predeceased you leaving two children of their own, those two grandchildren share their parent’s third, so each gets one-sixth of the estate.⁴

If a minor child inherits, the probate court can appoint a guardian of the child’s estate to hold and manage the assets until the child turns eighteen. The court usually looks first to a parent or existing guardian, and if the child is at least twelve, the child’s own preference is taken into account.⁵

Children Born Outside Marriage

A child born outside marriage inherits from the mother automatically. Inheriting from the biological father requires one of four things: the parents married after the child’s birth, a court adjudicated the man as father, the father signed a sworn written acknowledgment of paternity, or (if the father or child has already died) the probate court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the father acknowledged the child in writing and openly treated the child as his own.⁶

Adopted Children, Stepchildren, and Half-Siblings

Adopted children inherit from adoptive parents on the same terms as biological children. Adoption also severs inheritance rights from the biological parents, with one exception: if a stepparent adopts the child while married to the child’s biological parent, the child keeps inheritance rights from that biological parent’s side of the family.⁷

Stepchildren who were never legally adopted have no rights under intestate succession. This is the point that surprises families most often. A stepparent who wants a stepchild to inherit has to adopt, write a will, or use a beneficiary designation.

Half-siblings inherit equally with full siblings. Connecticut treats them the same for intestacy.⁴

Parents, Siblings, and More Distant Relatives

If the deceased leaves no spouse and no descendants, the estate goes to surviving parents. If both parents are gone, it passes to siblings in equal shares. A sibling who predeceased the deceased is represented by that sibling’s children, who take their parent’s share.⁴

Beyond siblings and their children, representation stops. The estate goes to the next of kin in equal degree: the closest surviving relatives share equally, regardless of which branch of the family tree they come from.⁴

Who Cannot Inherit

Connecticut’s slayer statute bars anyone convicted of killing the deceased from taking any part of the estate, whether by intestacy, will, or beneficiary designation. It reaches murder, manslaughter, and related offenses, including out-of-state convictions for substantially similar crimes. A person blocked by this rule is treated as having died before the victim, so the estate passes as if the killer never existed. The same disqualification applies to a person found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.⁸

A parent who abandoned the deceased as a minor child and remained absent cannot inherit from that child. A parent whose parental rights were terminated before the child turned eighteen is likewise barred.

When No Heirs Can Be Found

If the probate court, after reasonable efforts, cannot locate any living heir, the property is transferred to the State Treasurer as abandoned property. When it looks during settlement as though the estate may escheat, the court must notify the Commissioner of Revenue Services at least seven days before the hearing.⁹

Assets That Bypass Intestate Succession

Intestacy rules only govern property that passes through probate. Many of the largest assets a person owns are set up to transfer without probate involvement, and the intestate rules never touch them:

Retirement accounts (IRAs, 401(k)s) and life insurance policies pay directly to the named beneficiary.
Property held in joint tenancy or tenancy by the entirety passes automatically to the surviving co-owner.
Bank accounts with a payable-on-death designation and brokerage accounts with a transfer-on-death designation go straight to the named beneficiary.
Assets held in a revocable living trust pass under the trust’s terms.

Someone who dies “without a will” may still have arranged for most of their wealth to move outside probate. Intestate succession only distributes what is left in the probate estate.

Small Estate Affidavit

Not every intestate estate needs a full administration. If the deceased owned no Connecticut real estate and the total personal property (bank accounts, vehicles, household goods) is worth $40,000 or less, an heir can use an affidavit in lieu of administration.¹⁰

The process uses Form PC-212, filed with the probate court in the district where the deceased lived, along with a death certificate and a list of assets and expenses. No administrator is appointed, and the estate can be settled far more quickly than a full proceeding. The petitioner signs under penalty of false statement.¹¹

The $40,000 cap counts only property the deceased owned individually. Assets that pass outside probate are excluded from the calculation, which is why many modest estates qualify even when the family’s overall assets are larger.

1
Justia. Connecticut General Statutes 45a-437 – Intestate Succession, Distribution to Spouse
2
Connecticut General Assembly. Common Law Marriage and the Legal Rights of Common Law Partners
3
Probate Court Administrator, State of Connecticut. Probate Court User Guide – Administration of Decedents’ Estates
4
Justia. Connecticut General Statutes 45a-439 – Distribution When No Children or Representatives
5
Justia. Connecticut General Statutes 45a-629 – Appointment of Guardian for Minor’s Estate
6
Justia. Connecticut General Statutes 45a-438 – Distribution to Children, Children Born Out of Wedlock May Inherit
7
Justia. Connecticut General Statutes 45a-731 – Effects of Final Decree of Adoption, Surviving Rights
8
Justia. Connecticut General Statutes 45a-447 – Person Adjudged Guilty of Certain Crimes Ineligible to Inherit
9
Connecticut General Assembly. Chapter 802b – Decedents’ Estates
10
Justia. Connecticut General Statutes 45a-273 – Settlement of Small Estates Without Probate of Will or Letters of Administration
11
Connecticut Probate Courts. Affidavit in Lieu of Probate of Will/Administration PC-212