In Connecticut, estates with personal property of $40,000C.G.S. § 45a-273Verified Sep 8, 2026View source or less use the Small Estate Affidavit (Affidavit in Lieu of Probate of Will/Administration, PC-212)C.G.S. § 45a-273Verified Sep 8, 2026View source, 30 daysC.G.S. § 45a-273Verified Sep 8, 2026View source after death, a court filing short of full probate. Real property cannot pass through the affidavitC.G.S. § 45a-273Verified Sep 8, 2026View source; an estate that includes real estate uses a separate process. An estate over the limit does not qualify, and no affidavit is prepared for it.

Connecticut's recorded instrument, Affidavit of facts relating to title or interest in real estate, rests on the general recording statute for affidavits of facts affecting title to land. What a recorded affidavit does, in the statute's words: if recorded, and if the affiant is dead or otherwise not available to testify in court, the affidavit or a certified copy of it is admissible as prima facie evidence of the facts stated in it, so far as those facts affect title to real estate, in any action involving the title to that real estate or any interest in itC.G.S. § 47-12a(a)Verified Sep 24, 2026View source. It is evidence of the facts it states, not a deed; it does not itself transfer title, and a purchaser, lender or title company decides whether to rely on it.

In the land records of the town in which the real estate is situatedC.G.S. § 47-12a(a), (c)Verified Sep 24, 2026View source. The office records it as it records deeds, in the county where the land lies, and charges its recording fee per page. The page is laid out to Connecticut's recording standard: a 0.75-inch clear top margin on the first page, 0.75-inch side marginsC.G.S. § 7-24(f)Verified Sep 25, 2026View source.

It depends on what the person owned and how it was titled. Property with a named beneficiary, joint property with survivorship, and property in a trust pass outside probate. What remains goes through probate unless it is under the state's small estate limit, in which case a small estate affidavit collects it. The Probate Decision Tool applies your state's rules.