State Unemployment Benefits in Connecticut

State Unemployment Benefits in Connecticut: key facts

Administering agency

Connecticut Department of Labor (CTDOL), Unemployment Insurance.

Claimant system

ReEmployCT at reemployct.dol.ct.gov.

Consumer Contact Center

(800) 956-3294, (203) 941-6868, or (860) 967-0493 (Monday–Friday, 7:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.).

After a death

Conn. Gen. Stat. 31-227(c): when a benefit claimant dies leaving unpaid benefits due, the administrator may, in his discretion, pay them in the manner set forth in Conn. Gen. Stat. 45a-273 — the small-estate affidavit filed in the Probate Court for the decedent's district — and that payment discharges the administrator from liability. CTDOL publishes no separate deceased-claimant procedure page, so report the death to the Consumer Contact Center and ask how any filed weeks are paid out.

Overpayment owed by the claimant

A waiver of a non-fraud overpayment may be granted "in the event of the claimant's death as requested by the claimant's estate." Waivers are considered for non-fraud overpayments only, and the questionnaire and hearing request must be returned to CTDOL within 14 days of the mail date on the pre-determination letter.

Governing law: Conn. Gen. Stat. 31-227(c); 45a-273

Steps to take when someone dies

1. Report the claimant's death to the Connecticut Department of Labor Consumer Contact Center (800-956-3294) so the claim is closed out.
2. Ask CTDOL what happens to any benefit weeks already filed and what documentation the estate must provide.
3. For unpaid benefits due the claimant, the administrator may pay them through the Conn. Gen. Stat. 45a-273 small-estate route — file the affidavit in lieu of administration in the Probate Court for the district where the decedent resided if the estate qualifies (up to $40,000 of solely owned personal property, no solely owned Connecticut real property).
4. If CTDOL has established a non-fraud overpayment against the claimant, the estate may request a waiver of that debt — the claimant's death is one of the circumstances CTDOL lists as supporting a waiver.

Frequently asked questions