Northern Fairfield County Probate Court Guide

Note: Connecticut probate fees are set by statute and are uniform in all 54 probate districts under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-105, so this district charges the same amounts as the other 53. THE TWO NUMBERS ABOVE ARE STATUTORY MINIMUMS, NOT THE COST OF PROBATE. There is no flat fee to open a Connecticut decedent's estate: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-107 charges a graduated fee on the greatest of the inventory, the gross estate for estate or succession tax purposes, or the Connecticut taxable estate, which reaches assets that pass outside probate, with any share passing to a surviving spouse counted at half. For a death on or after July 1, 2016 the schedule is: $0 to $500 = $25; $501 to $1,000 = $50; $1,000 to $10,000 = $50 plus 1% of the excess over $1,000; $10,000 to $500,000 = $150 plus 0.35% of the excess over $10,000; $500,000 to $2,000,000 = $1,865 plus 0.25% of the excess over $500,000; $2,000,000 to $8,877,000 = $5,615 plus 0.5% of the excess over $2,000,000; $8,877,000 and over = $40,000 flat. So a $250,000 estate pays $990 and a $1,000,000 estate pays $3,115. The $150 figure is the § 45a-107(b)(3) floor that applies when a full estate is opened and the basis is under $10,000; the $25 figure is the § 45a-107(b)(1) statutory minimum, which is the floor for a § 45a-273 small-estate affidavit because no full estate is opened. The court invoices the fee after the Connecticut estate tax return establishes the values rather than collecting it at filing. Unpaid fees accrue interest at 0.5% per month and become a lien on the decedent's Connecticut real property under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-107b. Schedule and official calculators: https://www.ctprobate.gov/fees-expenses-calculators. The $250 flat filing fee people find in § 45a-106a does NOT apply to a decedent's estate; subsection (a) of that section says so. Confirm the amount with this Probate Court before filing.