A Connecticut small estate affidavit lets heirs settle an estate without opening full probate when the deceased’s solely owned personal property totals $40,000 or less and they owned no real property in Connecticut at death. The process runs under Connecticut General Statutes Section 45a-273. You file a single sworn form with the probate court in the district where the deceased lived, and the court orders payment of debts and distribution of what remains.
Three conditions must all be true. The solely owned personal property is at or under $40,000. The deceased owned no Connecticut real estate in their own name at death. And no probate case is already open or pending for the estate. Miss any one, and the shortcut is unavailable.1Justia. Connecticut Code 45a-273 – Settlement of Small Estates Without Probate of Will or Letters of Administration
Who Can File
The statute sets a priority for who has standing to file:
- The surviving spouse comes first.
- If there is no surviving spouse, any of the deceased’s next of kin may file.
- If no spouse or next of kin exists, or none is willing to act, the probate court can allow any person with a sufficient interest, such as a creditor or funeral home owed money, to file.
Residency also matters. The affidavit goes to the probate court for the district where the deceased lived, so a Connecticut resident is the assumed filer’s decedent.
What Counts Toward the $40,000 Limit
Only property the deceased owned solely in their own name counts. This single point decides eligibility for many families who assume they need full probate.
Assets that pass outside probate by operation of law are excluded from the calculation. That means bank accounts held as joint tenants with right of survivorship, life insurance with a named beneficiary, retirement accounts with a designated beneficiary, and payable-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts do not count. They transfer automatically to the surviving owner or beneficiary and never enter the probate estate.1Justia. Connecticut Code 45a-273 – Settlement of Small Estates Without Probate of Will or Letters of Administration
Consider someone who dies holding a $30,000 individual bank account, a $200,000 joint brokerage account with survivorship rights, and a $50,000 life insurance policy naming a child as beneficiary. Only the $30,000 counts. The estate qualifies for the small estate affidavit even though the total assets far exceed $40,000.
The Real Estate Rule
The largest disqualifier is real property. If the deceased owned any Connecticut real estate solely in their own name at death, the small estate affidavit is not available at any value. A full probate estate must be opened to transfer that property.1Justia. Connecticut Code 45a-273 – Settlement of Small Estates Without Probate of Will or Letters of Administration
Real property owned as joint tenants with right of survivorship works differently. It passes automatically to the surviving owner and is not considered solely owned at death, so it does not block the small estate process.
The Form and What Goes With It
Connecticut’s probate courts use Form PC-212, “Affidavit in Lieu of Probate of Will/Administration.” The form asks for:2Connecticut Probate Courts. Affidavit in Lieu of Probate of Will or Administration PC-212
- An itemized list of every piece of solely owned personal property with values, leaving out anything that passes outside probate.
- A list of all claims, expenses, and taxes against the estate, sorted under the priority categories in Section 45a-365, noting anything already paid and by whom.
- A disclosure of whether the deceased received aid or care from the state of Connecticut. This matters because the state has a right to seek reimbursement, particularly for Medicaid.
Attach a copy of the death certificate with the Social Security number redacted. The Social Security number goes on a separate confidential sheet, Form PC-212CI. If assets will remain after paying debts, file Form PC-212A as well, the Request for Order of Distribution, asking the court to authorize payments to heirs or beneficiaries.2Connecticut Probate Courts. Affidavit in Lieu of Probate of Will or Administration PC-212
You sign under penalty of false statement. Making a materially false statement is a criminal offense in Connecticut.
Where to File and What It Costs
File with the probate court for the district where the deceased lived. Court fees for decedent’s estates run on a sliding scale under Section 45a-107:3Connecticut Probate Courts. Connecticut Code 45a-107 – Fees and Expenses for Settlement of Decedent’s Estates
- $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 $40,000: $150 plus 0.35% of the amount over $10,000
A $25,000 estate pays $202.50. A $40,000 estate at the ceiling pays about $255.
Once the affidavit is filed, the court can usually act without a formal notice and hearing, which is what makes this faster than standard probate. The judge reviews the paperwork, confirms the statutory conditions are met, then issues orders for payment of claims and distribution of any remaining assets.1Justia. Connecticut Code 45a-273 – Settlement of Small Estates Without Probate of Will or Letters of Administration
How Debts Get Paid and What Heirs Receive
The court does not just release the money to the family. It first determines what the estate owes and orders those obligations paid in the priority set by Section 45a-365. Funeral expenses come first, then costs of settling the estate, then last-illness expenses, then taxes owed to Connecticut or the federal government, then wages for laborers employed within three months before death, then other preferred claims, and finally general claims paid pro rata if the estate cannot cover them.4Justia. Connecticut Code 45a-365 – Priority of Claims, Expenses, and Taxes
If the deceased received Medicaid or other state aid, the state’s reimbursement claim runs through separate recovery statutes and can consume a large share of a small estate. The state aid disclosure on the affidavit triggers that review.
What happens to any remainder depends on whether the deceased left a will. With no will, the court distributes under Connecticut’s intestacy rules. If the will directs the same distribution intestacy would produce, the court follows the intestacy rules without formally admitting the will. If the will directs a different distribution, every heir at law must sign a written waiver of the right to contest before the court will honor it. A refusal by any heir can force the matter into full probate.
What the Filer Is Responsible For
Signing the affidavit puts you on the hook. You are personally responsible for accurately reporting the estate’s assets and debts, and intentionally hiding property or inflating debts can lead to criminal liability under the penalty of false statement. Heirs or creditors who are shortchanged can also sue.
You take on fiduciary duties to every beneficiary and creditor, not just yourself. If you are both an heir and the filer, you cannot favor yourself or skip inconvenient creditors. Courts can impose personal liability on filers who mismanage funds or hand assets to heirs before legitimate claims are paid.
Disputes can grow. Where heirs argue among themselves or a creditor challenges the affidavit’s accuracy, the probate court can hold hearings, and what began as a simplified filing can start to look like traditional probate. Families with complicated dynamics or unclear debts should weigh whether the streamlined process will actually stay that way.
One tax point often gets overlooked. A small estate is far below any estate tax threshold, so that is not a concern. Income tax can be. Confirm whether the deceased had unfiled returns or earned income in the year of death that requires a final federal return, due on the normal April 15 deadline for the tax year of death.5Internal Revenue Service. IRS Opens 2026 Filing Season Connecticut also requires a state return for any year the deceased had Connecticut-source income. Distributing the estate without handling these returns can leave the filer holding penalties and interest personally.