Executor Resignation and Removal Requirements in Connecticut

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Connecticut's removal cluster uses fiduciary to include an executor or administrator, while expressly excluding trustees. The Probate Court already supervising the estate handles removal, resignation, replacement, and turnover.

Interested persons, the bond surety, and the court may start removal

Under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-242(a), the Probate Court may proceed on its own motion or on a petition from any interested person or the surety on the fiduciary's probate bond. Notice and a hearing are required before removal.

The section gives the surety direct petition standing; it does not merely make the surety a notice recipient.

Every listed removal ground remains discretionary

Section 45a-242(a) says the court may remove. It does not convert a listed ground into automatic disqualification or mandatory revocation.

The grounds cover incapacity, neglect, waste, failure to furnish an ordered additional or substitute bond, and cofiduciary noncooperation that substantially impairs administration. The court may also remove for unfitness, unwillingness, or persistent ineffective administration when removal best serves beneficiary interests.

The changed-circumstances and unanimous-beneficiary route is narrower still: the court must find removal best for all beneficiaries, consistent with the governing instrument's material purpose, and supported by an available suitable cofiduciary or successor.

Written resignation is subject to court acceptance or rejection

Under § 45a-242(b), resignation is written and receives notice and a hearing. The Probate Court may accept or reject it. The statute states no fixed prehearing notice period and does not require beneficiary consent.

Acceptance does not relieve the outgoing fiduciary from fully and finally accounting to the court. The final account is due within 60 days after the court accepts the resignation.

The core statute supplies no predecision suspension procedure

Sections 45a-242 to 45a-244 require a petition or own-motion proceeding, notice, and hearing, but state no citation or show-cause form, response deadline, fixed notice interval, or predecision suspension or injunction.

Once removal occurs, the court may appoint a suitable successor and use § 45a-244 to enforce delivery of estate property held under the former appointment.

Successor bond and surviving suits continue the administration

Under § 45a-242(d), death, removal, or accepted resignation before duties are complete permits appointment of a suitable successor. The successor gives a probate bond unless the will or other law excuses it.

Under § 45a-242(e), suits in favor of or against the original fiduciary survive to the successor. Sections 45a-242 to -244 state no removal-specific compensation rule, reserve requirement, or general release from liability.

Appeal changes the successor's status, not the immediate transition

Under § 45a-243(a), the removed fiduciary may appeal. The appeal does not stay successor appointment; the successor serves temporarily during the appeal until withdrawal or final judgment.

If removal is sustained, the appointment becomes permanent. If removal is vacated, the temporary appointment may be terminated after the successor's final account, but § 45a-243(c) preserves the full effect of the successor's acts during the appeal.

What trips people up

• The grounds are not mandatory. Even incapacity, waste, and bond failure appear under the statute's “may remove” standard.
• The resignation account comes after acceptance. The accepted resignation starts a 60-day final-account deadline; the accounting duty is not erased by departure.
• Appeal does not freeze replacement. The successor acts temporarily and validly while the removed fiduciary challenges the order.

Common questions

May the probate-bond surety seek removal?

Yes. Section 45a-242(a) expressly permits the surety to petition, alongside any interested person and the Probate Court's own-motion authority.

Must all beneficiaries agree before removal?

No. Unanimous beneficiary request is one route, paired with additional findings. The incapacity, neglect, waste, bond, cofiduciary, and ineffective- administration routes do not require unanimous consent.

Does a successful appeal erase the successor's interim acts?

No. Section 45a-243(c) says those acts remain of full effect even when the removal order is vacated.

Statutes and sources

• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-242 — standing, discretionary grounds, written resignation, notice and hearing, 60-day final account, successor appointment, bond, and suit survival. Official current Chapter 802 (accessed August 28, 2026).
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-243 — removal appeal, non-staying temporary successor, permanent appointment after affirmance, and effective interim acts after vacatur. Official current text (accessed August 28, 2026).
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-244 — equitable enforcement of delivery to the successor. Official current text (accessed August 28, 2026).