The following are excerpts from Connecticut’s intestacy laws. Please reference the full body of the Connecticut Probate Code at the Connecticut Legislature for any changes to those laws that may not be reflected below.
You can also open the Connecticut Intestacy Evaluator™ to see the distribution of a Connecticut intestate estate based upon unique family and financial circumstances.
45a-437. Intestate succession. Distribution to spouse
(a) If there is no will, or if any part of the property, real or personal, legally or equitably owned by the decedent at the time of his or her death, is not effectively disposed of by the will or codicil of the decedent, the portion of the intestate estate of the decedent, determined after payment of any support allowance from principal pursuant to section 45a-320, which the surviving spouse shall take is:
(1) If there is no surviving issue or parent of the decedent, the entire intestate estate absolutely;
(2) If there is no surviving issue of the decedent but the decedent is survived by a parent or parents, the first one hundred thousand dollars plus three-quarters of the balance of the intestate estate absolutely;
(3) If there are surviving issue of the decedent all of whom are also issue of the surviving spouse, the first one hundred thousand dollars plus one-half of the balance of the intestate estate absolutely;
(4) If there are surviving issue of the decedent one or more of whom are not issue of the surviving spouse, one-half of the intestate estate absolutely.
(b) For the purposes of this section:
(1) Issue includes children who qualify for inheritance under the provisions of section 45a-438, and the legal representatives of such children;
(2) A person shall be considered a parent if the person qualifies for inheritance from or through the child under the provisions of section 45a-438b.
45a-438. Distribution to children. Inheritance of child born out of wedlock from or through father
(a) After distribution has been made of the intestate estate to the surviving spouse in accordance with section 45a-437,the residue of the real and personal estate shall be distributed equally, according to its value at the time of distribution, among the children, including children born after the death of the decedent, as provided in subsection (a) of section 45a-785, and the legal representatives of any of them who may be dead, except that children or other descendants who receive estate by advancement of the intestate in the intestate’s lifetime shall themselves or their representatives have only so much of the estate as will, together with such advancement, make their share equal to what they would have been entitled to receive had no such advancement been made.
(b) Except as provided in section 45a-731, for the purposes of this chapter, a child and the child’s legal representatives shall qualify for inheritance from or through the parent if parentage is established in accordance with the provisions of the Connecticut Parentage Act or by adoption. If parentage is based on subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of section 36 or sections 40 to 50, inclusive, of the Connecticut Parentage Act, parentage shall be established by a voluntary acknowledgment of parentage under sections 24 to 35, inclusive, of the Connecticut Parentage Act, or by court adjudication.
45a-439. Distribution when there are no children or representatives of them
(a)(1) If there are no children or any legal representatives of them, then, after the portion of the husband or wife, if any, is distributed or set out, the residue of the estate shall be distributed equally to the parent or parents of the intestate, except that no parent who has abandoned a minor child and continued such abandonment until the time of death of such child shall be entitled to share in the estate of such child or be deemed a parent for the purposes of subdivisions (2) to (4), inclusive, of this subsection.
(2) If there is no parent, the residue of the estate shall be distributed equally to the brothers and sisters of the intestate and those who legally represent them.
(3) If there is no parent or brothers and sisters or those who legally represent them, the residue of the estate shall be distributed equally to the next of kin in equal degree, and no representatives shall be admitted among collaterals after the representatives of brothers and sisters.
(4) If there is no next of kin, the residue of the estate shall be distributed equally to the stepchildren and those who legally represent them.
(b) When any will executed prior to January 1, 1902, fails for any reason to dispose of the whole or any part of the estate of the testator, and such estate becomes intestate, the estate shall be distributed in accordance with the statutes of distribution in force at the time such will was executed.
(c) Real property subject to the life use of husband or wife, remaining undivided at the expiration of such life use, shall be distributed in the same manner by the same or other distributors, or the real property may be distributed during the continuance of such life interest and subject thereto.
(d) In ascertaining the next of kin in all cases, the rule of the civil law shall be used.
(e) Relatives of the half blood shall take the same share under this section that they would take if they were of the whole blood.
(f) For the purposes of this section:
(1) A father of a child born out of wedlock shall be considered a parent if the father qualifies for inheritance under section 45a-438b ; and
(2) Next of kin shall include the kindred of a deceased father of a child born out of wedlock if the father would have qualified for inheritance from or through the child under section 45a-438b had the father survived the child.