Connecticut Family Allowance

Connecticut's family allowance has no dollar figure. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-320(a) lets the Probate Court allow, out of any real or personal estate of the deceased in settlement before it, whatever amount the court judges necessary for the support of the surviving spouse or family while the estate is settled. There is no statutory cap, no statutory minimum and no inflation adjustment, so the answer to "how much" is whatever the court finds the family needs and the estate can bear.

That single design choice separates Connecticut from most of its neighbors. States that copied the Uniform Probate Code hand a surviving spouse a fixed first-dollar amount. Connecticut instead gives the judge of probate discretion and four ways to shape the decree, one of which can turn the allowance into the spouse's absolute property as of the date of death. This guide covers who qualifies, how to ask, what the court can order, how the allowance interacts with creditors and with the small-estate route, and the two allowances Connecticut does not have.

Connecticut Sets No Amount, and That Is the Rule

Section 45a-320(a) reads as a grant of discretion rather than a schedule:

The Court of Probate may allow out of any real or personal estate of a deceased person in settlement before such court, including a small estate being settled under the provisions of section 45a-273, such amount as it may judge necessary for the support of the surviving spouse or family of the deceased during the settlement of the estate.

Three things follow from that sentence, and each one is a place where a national article gets Connecticut wrong.

The allowance reaches real property as well as personal property. The statute says "any real or personal estate." A court can fund an allowance from the value of real estate, not only from cash and securities.

The allowance is available in a small estate. The section names § 45a-273 settlements explicitly. Most simplified-administration statutes strip the family protections out; Connecticut wrote the opposite instruction into the text.

The measure is need during settlement, not a percentage of the estate. The allowance supports the family while the case is open. It is not an inheritance, not a share, and not a substitute for the statutory share a spouse may elect against a will.

How to Ask: Form PC-202

The request is a petition, not an automatic entitlement. File Probate Court form PC-202, Petition for Support Allowance, in the probate district where the estate is being settled. Connecticut has no county probate court: the state abolished county government in 1960, and probate is heard by the 54 Probate Districts of Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-2, with jurisdiction following the town where the decedent lived. Our Connecticut probate district directory maps every town to its court.

Two practical notes on filing:

1. No separate fee attaches to the petition. Connecticut charges one sliding-scale fee under § 45a-107 that covers all proceedings in the settlement of a decedent's estate, and the Probate Court invoices it after the estate tax return establishes the values. The Connecticut probate cost guide breaks down how that fee is computed.
2. Ask early. The allowance supports the family during settlement, so its usefulness shrinks as the case closes. The estate tax return is due six months after death and the routine creditor window runs 150 days from the first fiduciary's appointment, which means a typical Connecticut estate is open long enough for an allowance to matter. The Connecticut probate timeline shows where those dates fall.

The Four Things the Decree Can Say (§ 45a-320(b))

Section 45a-320(b) lets the court include any one or more of four provisions in the decree, to the extent they are not mutually inconsistent. This menu is the substance of Connecticut practice on this topic.

1. How long the allowance runs

The decree may provide that the allowance runs for the entire period the estate is in settlement, or for a fixed period no longer than the settlement, in which case the court may renew it at its discretion. A shorter renewable term gives the court a checkpoint when the family's circumstances or the estate's liquidity are uncertain.

2. Payment in a lump sum

The decree may provide that the allowance is paid in a lump sum instead of in installments. A lump sum suits a family facing a one-time cost, such as replacing a vehicle or covering a tuition bill, rather than an ongoing shortfall.

3. Retroactive vesting as of the date of death

This is the provision that has no analogue in most states, and it deserves careful reading. The decree may provide that an allowance made for a surviving spouse vests in that spouse retroactively as of the moment of the deceased spouse's death, so that it becomes a fixed sum certain as of the date of death. Four consequences follow from the statute's own words:

• The allowance does not terminate on the surviving spouse's later death.
• It does not terminate on the surviving spouse's remarriage.
• It becomes the absolute property of the surviving spouse, or of that spouse's estate if the spouse has since died.
• It carries no restriction as to use, encumbrance or disposition.

The section adds that, for its purposes, the right to seek such a vested allowance is itself a vested right as of the date of death of the deceased spouse. A surviving spouse in poor health, or one who may remarry before the estate closes, has a concrete reason to ask for this language rather than accept a plain periodic order.

4. Charging the allowance against estate income

The decree may provide that the allowance is charged, in whole or in part, against any right the recipient has to the income of the estate earned during the period of settlement. Where a surviving spouse is also the residuary beneficiary receiving estate income, this provision decides whether the allowance is additional money or an advance on income already coming to that spouse.

The Family Car (§ 45a-320(c))

Subsection (c) is short and often missed. The court may also allow the surviving spouse or family the use, during settlement of the estate, of any motor vehicle the decedent maintained during life as a family car.

Read "use" precisely. This is permission to keep driving the car while the estate is open, not a transfer of ownership. Title still moves through the ordinary route once the Probate Court has acted, and Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-16(c) separately keeps the decedent's registration valid to the end of its period, with a $20 fee to continue it for a surviving spouse, parent, child or sibling. Our Connecticut vehicle transfer guide covers the retitling paperwork, including the beneficiary designation under § 14-16(b) that avoids probate for the vehicle entirely.

Where the Allowance Sits Against Creditors and Heirs

Two interactions decide whether the allowance is worth pursuing in a given estate.

Against creditors. Section 45a-365 ranks claims, expenses and taxes in seven classes when the estate cannot pay everything: funeral expenses; expenses of settling the estate; claims for the decedent's last sickness; lawful taxes and claims due Connecticut and the United States; wages owed a laborer or mechanic for work done in the three months before the death; other preferred claims; and all other claims in proportion. Our guide to the Connecticut order of debt payment works through that ladder. Where an estate is insolvent, § 45a-435 separately directs the court to set out to the surviving spouse the household goods exempt from execution, and permits it to set out other exempt property.

Against the heirs' shares. In an intestate estate, the surviving spouse's share under § 45a-437 is computed on the intestate estate after payment of any support allowance from principal. The allowance shrinks the pool the heir ladder divides, which matters most in a blended family where the spouse and the decedent's children from another relationship split the estate. The Connecticut intestate succession guide sets out those four spousal tiers.

In a small estate settled by affidavit, § 45a-273(f) makes the sequence explicit: the court distributes the excess only where the fair value of the decedent's assets exceeds the total of claims, expenses, taxes and any amounts allowed to the family for support under § 45a-320. The allowance comes off the top before anyone computes what is left to distribute. The Connecticut small estate affidavit guide covers that $40,000 route.

Two Allowances Connecticut Does Not Have

A page written from a template will hand a Connecticut family two protections that do not exist here. Both absences were confirmed by reading Title 45a rather than inferred from silence.

No probate homestead allowance. Title 45a contains no section giving a surviving spouse or minor children a fixed sum out of the estate in lieu of a homestead. What Connecticut gives instead is a right of occupancy: under § 45a-321(b) the family may remain in the dwelling house the decedent occupied at death, and occupy the land and buildings connected with it that the court considers necessary for their convenience and comfort, until the property is sold, distributed or otherwise disposed of according to law. Connecticut attaches no month limit to that right, unlike states that cap it at six months.

No fixed-dollar exempt-property allowance. Connecticut has no first-dollar exempt-property set-aside for a solvent estate. The one probate set-out rule, § 45a-435, applies only when the decedent's personal property, exclusive of household goods exempt from execution, is insufficient to pay the debts.

The $250,000 figure that circulates in Connecticut homestead discussions comes from § 52-352b(21), which exempts a debtor's homestead equity from execution and drops to $75,000 for a money judgment arising out of sexual abuse or exploitation of a minor, sexual assault, or other wilful, wanton or reckless misconduct. That is a protection for a living debtor measured when a postjudgment or bankruptcy proceeding begins. It is not an allowance paid out of an estate, and quoting it to a surviving spouse as a Connecticut death benefit is the most common error on this topic.

What to Do Next

• Confirm which of the 54 probate districts covers the decedent's town, then file form PC-202 there.
• Decide before filing whether you want a periodic allowance, a lump sum, or the retroactive vesting language in § 45a-320(b)(3), and ask for it in the petition.
• Ask separately for use of the family car under § 45a-320(c) if the household depends on the vehicle.
• If the estate looks insolvent, raise § 45a-435 at the same hearing so the household goods are set out.
• Read the Connecticut surviving spouse rights guide before deciding whether to elect the statutory share, because the allowance and the share are separate rights with separate deadlines.

This guide explains Connecticut law. It is not legal advice. Talk to a licensed Connecticut attorney about your own estate.

Sources

• Title: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-320, Allowance for support of surviving spouse and family. Family car. Publisher: Connecticut General Assembly. Publication Date: Revised to January 1, 2025. URL: https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_802b.htm#sec_45a-320
• Title: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-321, Custody of real property. Products and income of real property. Family may occupy homestead. Publisher: Connecticut General Assembly. Publication Date: Revised to January 1, 2025. URL: https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_802b.htm#sec_45a-321
• Title: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-273, Settlement of small estates without probate of will or letters of administration. Publisher: Connecticut General Assembly. Publication Date: Revised to January 1, 2025. URL: https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_802b.htm#sec_45a-273
• Title: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-365, Order of payment of claims, expenses and taxes. Publisher: Connecticut General Assembly. Publication Date: Revised to January 1, 2025. URL: https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_802b.htm#sec_45a-365
• Title: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-435, Personal property that may be set out to spouse from insolvent estate. Publisher: Connecticut General Assembly. Publication Date: Revised to January 1, 2025. URL: https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_802b.htm#sec_45a-435
• Title: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-437, Intestate succession. Distribution to spouse. Publisher: Connecticut General Assembly. Publication Date: Revised to January 1, 2025. URL: https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_802b.htm#sec_45a-437
• Title: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-352b, Exempt property. Publisher: Connecticut General Assembly. Publication Date: Revised to January 1, 2025. URL: https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_906.htm#sec_52-352b
• Title: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-16, Transfer of ownership. Designation of beneficiary. Fees. Penalties. Publisher: Connecticut General Assembly. Publication Date: Revised to January 1, 2025. URL: https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_246.htm#sec_14-16
• Title: Probate Court form PC-202, Petition for Support Allowance. Publisher: Connecticut Probate Courts. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.ctprobate.gov/Forms/PC-202.pdf