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Connecticut timeline

Connecticut probate timeline: the 30-day wait and creditor deadlines

The simplified route starts 30 days after death.

That clock is one condition among several, and it is not the whole estate timeline. The deadlines that carry the most risk are creditor deadlines, and in Connecticut they are not verified to this site’s standard, so none is published below.

Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.

The one date this page can source

The settlement of small estates (affidavit in lieu of administration) route requires 30 days to elapse from the date of death. This is a precondition: the affidavit or petition cannot be presented before it runs, regardless of how straightforward the estate is.

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 dollarsC.G.S. § 45a-273 — Connecticut General Assembly; 2026 Supplement.

Creditor deadlines

This site publishes no creditor-notice or claim-bar deadline for Connecticut.

Connecticut runs a notice-to-creditors period plus separate rules for failure to present and for allowance/rejection of claims; a single number would conflate the publication/notice trigger with the outer limit.

These are the deadlines with the largest consequences on this page. Publishing a notice starts a period after which most claims are barred; missing a required notice can extend an estate’s exposure and, in some circumstances, the personal exposure of the person administering it. A number that is wrong by a few days is materially worse than no number at all, which is why none is given.

Read this: C.G.S. §§ 45a-353 to 45a-364 (chapter 802b: notice to creditors, presentation and allowance of claims). The probate clerk in the county of filing can also state the local practice, which sometimes differs from the bare statutory minimum.

Until then, the safe default is the one every source agrees on: do not distribute property, and do not pay non-priority debts, before the claim position is settled.

Connecticut timeline decision map

What must be established before the Connecticut clock matters

The Connecticut waiting period is only one condition. Use this map to separate the route clock from creditor deadlines, asset scope, court costs, and the documents needed to move from screening to filing.

QuestionRecorded Connecticut answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Settlement of small estates (affidavit in lieu of administration)Confirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route.
What property and basis count?personal probate property only; gross value for this route.Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately.
What is the amount screen?$40,000Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut.
What is the time or deadline record?30 days after death; No deadline is recorded here: Connecticut runs a notice-to-creditors period plus separate rules for failure to present and for allowance/rejection of claims; a single number would conflate the publication/notice trigger with the outer limit.Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number.
What does the cost record establish?1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total.Ask the Probate Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?Connecticut has no statutory percentage schedule for fiduciary compensation; an executor or administrator is entitled to reasonable compensation, governed by Rule 39 (Section 39.1) of the Probate Court Rules of Procedure. The court reviews reasonableness rather than applying a fixed percentage. The relevant base is the estate accounting.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Clock ledger

Do not compress the Connecticut deadlines into one date

No Connecticut creditor deadline is published here.

Connecticut runs a notice-to-creditors period plus separate rules for failure to present and for allowance/rejection of claims; a single number would conflate the publication/notice trigger with the outer limit. Read C.G.S. §§ 45a-353 to 45a-364 (chapter 802b: notice to creditors, presentation and allowance of claims) and ask the Probate Court which notice and claim rules apply.

Case-file context

Keep the Connecticut answer with its neighboring conditions

A route answer is easier to use when the facts that can change it stay in the same record. These are the reviewed Connecticut descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.

Route context

Connecticut settles decedents' estates in the Court of Probate. Small estates up to $40,000 in solely owned personal property use an affidavit (§ 45a-273). Probate fees follow the statewide graduated § 45a-107 schedule (min $25/$150, max $40,000). Fiduciary compensation is 'reasonable' under Probate Court Rule 39; there is no statutory percentage schedule.

Connecticut's small-estate settlement (C.G.S. § 45a-273) applies when the aggregate value of the decedent's solely owned tangible and intangible personal property, excluding property passing outside probate by operation of law, does not exceed $40,000 (gross), and the decedent left no solely owned Connecticut real property. The Probate Court will not issue its decree until 30 days after a copy of the affidavit is sent to the Department of Administrative Services.

Cost context

Connecticut charges a statewide graduated probate fee under C.G.S. § 45a-107 (decedents dying on or after July 1, 2016), computed on the basis for fees (generally the greatest of the gross estate for succession-tax purposes, the inventory, the Connecticut taxable estate, or the gross estate for estate-tax purposes; the surviving-spouse share reduced by 50%). Bands: $25 up to $500; $50 for $501–$1,000; $50 plus 1% of the excess over $1,000 up to $10,000; $150 plus .35% of the excess over $10,000 up to $500,000; $1,865 plus .25% of the excess over $500,000 up to $2,000,000; $5,615 plus .5% of the excess over $2,000,000 up to $8,877,000; and a flat $40,000 at $8,877,000 and over. Minimum fee $25 ($150 if the basis is under $10,000 and a full estate is opened); maximum $40,000.

1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total.

Compensation context

Connecticut has no statutory percentage schedule for fiduciary compensation; an executor or administrator is entitled to reasonable compensation, governed by Rule 39 (Section 39.1) of the Probate Court Rules of Procedure. The court reviews reasonableness rather than applying a fixed percentage.

Connecticut has no statutory percentage schedule for fiduciary compensation; an executor or administrator is entitled to reasonable compensation, governed by Rule 39 (Section 39.1) of the Probate Court Rules of Procedure. The court reviews reasonableness rather than applying a fixed percentage. The relevant base is the estate accounting.

Court-material note: Connecticut probate is heard in the Court of Probate (Probate Court). Form PC-212 is the statewide small-estate affidavit; the ctprobate.gov Fees & Calculators page implements the § 45a-107 schedule.

Arithmetic illustration

See the Connecticut amount screen without mistaking it for a result

The recorded Connecticut ceiling is $40,000, and it is tested against personal probate property only, on a basis this site records as gross value for this route. Counted that way, $30,000 sits below the Connecticut figure and $50,000 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what Connecticut counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.

Illustrative counted amountComparison to the Connecticut ceilingWhat it does not decide
$30,000Below $40,000Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$50,000Above $40,000Whether another statutory route or court process applies

Next evidence to collect

Calendar the verified gate, preserve the unresolved questions, and confirm the county filing path before distributing property.

  1. Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
  2. Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
  3. Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
  4. Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.

Official material

Connecticut probate is heard in the Court of Probate (Probate Court). Form PC-212 is the statewide small-estate affidavit; the ctprobate.gov Fees & Calculators page implements the § 45a-107 schedule.

Source trail

Records used by this Connecticut map

The general sequence

The order in which an estate is actually worked — secure property, confirm title and beneficiary designations, identify the court route, notify and account, then close — is the same everywhere and carries no citation, so it is set out once rather than repeated on each state’s page. Read it inthe executor’s first week, and seehow long probate takes for how the phases stretch in practice.

What is jurisdiction-specific is above: the Connecticut periods, the event each one runs from, and the source each was read in.

Use this as a starting point.

This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.

Continue in Connecticut