Updated September 7, 2026. Quick answer: Connecticut has no dedicated will-contest statute of limitations. The figure that actually governs is 30 days, running from the date the Probate Court sends the decree admitting the will (12 months if you had no notice and didn’t appear).
How long do you have to contest a will in Connecticut?
| Deadline to contest an admitted will | 30 days |
| What starts the clock | the date the Probate Court sends the decree admitting the will (12 months if you had no notice and didn’t appear) |
| Dedicated will-contest statute? | No; this is a general probate-appeal / vacate-the-order deadline |
“An appeal from an order, denial or decree in any other matter shall be filed on or before the thirtieth day after the date on which the Probate Court sent the order, denial or decree…[a person without notice who did not appear] shall be permitted to file an appeal not later than twelve months after the decree, order or denial.”
What makes Connecticut different
Connecticut has no dedicated will-contest statute at all; a contest proceeds as an ordinary probate appeal to Superior Court, giving it the shortest standard deadline in this survey (30 days), softened only by a 12-month exception for anyone who had no notice and didn’t appear. The controlling authority is Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 45a-186, 45a-187, and the window runs from the date the Probate Court sends the decree admitting the will (12 months if you had no notice and didn’t appear).
What happens once this deadline passes?
Once the window above closes, Connecticut’s probate of the will generally becomes final and binding on everyone who had the chance to object, subject only to the tolling or discovery exceptions described above; a separate objection Connecticut allowed at the original probate hearing does not reopen or extend it.
Sources
| Statute / rule | Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 45a-186, 45a-187 |
| Connecticut courts (general reference) | Connecticut judicial branch |
| Confidence | High |
Every statute or rule quoted on this Connecticut page was read directly from the state’s own legislature/court/code site this session, or, where that site blocked automated access, from a reputable legal-citation mirror quoting the same official text with its official citation (disclosed below). General information, not legal advice; whether a specific contest is still timely can turn on facts (exactly when notice was given, how the will was probated, whether a disability applies) that only your own Connecticut probate court file can confirm.