Connecticut Small Estate Affidavit

Updated August 3, 2026. Quick answer: Connecticut lets a small estate be settled with a sworn affidavit, with no waiting period counted from the date of death (the court may not issue its decree until 30 days after it sends a copy of the affidavit to the Department of Administrative Services), and it is filed with the court (or the office that holds probate authority). Real estate: no — personal property only.

The verdicts

What the statute actually says

If the aggregate value of a decedent’s solely owned tangible and intangible personal property, excluding property that passes outside of probate by operation of law, does not exceed forty thousand dollars and the decedent had no solely owned real property in this state at the time of his or her death: (1) The decedent’s surviving spouse; or (2) if there is no surviving spouse, any of the decedent’s next of kin; or (3) if there is no next of kin or if the surviving spouse and next of kin refuse, any person whom the court deems to have a sufficient interest in the decedent’s estate, including any person or entity to whom a claim, expense or tax is due, may, in lieu of filing a petition for admission of a will to probate or letters of administration, file an affidavit signed under penalty of false statement in the Probate Court in the district in which the decedent resided.

— Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-273

The dollar limit

$40,000 — settlement of small estates without full probate (affidavit in lieu of administration), C.G.S. §45a-273: solely owned personal property only, no solely owned CT real property.

All 51 limits, compared.

The form

There is an official free form. PC-212 — Affidavit in Lieu of Probate of Will/Administration — published by the state, free to download. You should not pay anyone for this form.

The waiting period is the part that voids transfers

Using the instrument before its waiting period has run is the most common way one of these fails. A bank can refuse it, and a transfer made on a defective affidavit can be unwound — with the person who signed it personally exposed, because these are sworn statements made under penalty of perjury. Wait the full period and count from the date of death.

What the statute says about timing and notarization

C.G.S. §45a-273, read on cga.ct.gov, sets no waiting period counted from the date of death. It does provide that the court shall not issue a decree until thirty days after it sends a copy of the affidavit to the Department of Administrative Services. The affidavit is signed under penalty of false statement; the statute does not mention a notary.

When this route is the wrong one

• The estate is over the limit. Full administration applies, and using the small-estate route anyway does not make it valid.
• There is real estate and this route does not reach it. A house needs the instrument that can actually transfer title.
• Someone disputes it. These procedures assume agreement; a contested estate belongs in front of a judge.
• Debts exceed assets. Paying the wrong creditor first can make you personally liable.

Related: how the process works, step by step · affidavit versus summary administration.

General information drawn from state statutes and official court materials, not legal advice. Probate and small-estate procedure is STATE law and differs in every state; thresholds, waiting periods and forms change, and every figure here is sourced and dated. Using the wrong instrument, or using one before its waiting period has run, can make a transfer ineffective and can expose the person who signs the affidavit to personal liability. We are not a law firm and we sell no forms.