Inheritance Disclaimer and Renunciation Requirements in Connecticut

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and covered interests

Connecticut's disclaimer rules are in Chapter 802g, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-578 through § 45a-585. Section 45a-579 covers interests under a will or passing by intestacy, including testamentary powers of appointment. Section 45a-583 covers non-testamentary instruments, a category § 45a-578 defines to include inter vivos trusts, annuities, insurance policies, bank accounts, contracts naming beneficiaries, survivorship, and payment-on-death transfers.

Whole, partial, and conditional disclaimer

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-579(a) permits a whole or partial refusal of a will or intestacy interest. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-583(a) does the same for ordinary non-testamentary interests, but § 45a-583(f) creates a sharp real-estate exception: a surviving joint tenant's partial disclaimer of a real-property interest is void.

Chapter 802g does not expressly authorize a conditional disclaimer or list fraction, formula, dollar, or term-of-years formats. Its required "extent" statement supports identifying a partial interest, but not inventing a conditional form the statute does not state.

Writing or record and required contents

Both operative sections require a written disclaimer. Under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-579(c) and § 45a-583(c), it must describe the interest, declare the disclaimer, and state its extent. The chapter does not state an electronic- record alternative, original-document rule, legal-description recital, tax statement, or sworn verification as part of the general minimum.

Signature, witnesses, acknowledgment, and notary

Sections 45a-579(c) and 45a-583(c) import the execution method for real-property deeds, either under Connecticut law or the law where the document is signed. Connecticut's own deed rule, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-5(a), requires a natural person's signature, acknowledgment as the signer's free act and deed, and two attesting witnesses signing with their own hands.

State deadline, irrevocability, and federal-tax overlay

For a present will or intestacy interest, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-579(d) sets a nine-month delivery deadline measured from the later of the decedent's or power donee's death and the natural-person disclaimant turning 18. A future interest instead runs from the later of final ascertainment plus indefeasible vesting and age 18.

Section 45a-583(d) uses the non-testamentary instrument's effective date for a present interest and the vesting event for a future interest, again paired with age 18. It adds a separate protection when the person lacks actual knowledge of the interest: delivery may occur within nine months after the later of first actual knowledge and age 18. For this purpose, the instrument becomes effective when its maker can no longer revoke it or retake or redirect the entire legal and equitable ownership.

A complying disclaimer is irrevocable under § 45a-578(c). Federal tax qualification remains separate: 26 U.S.C. § 2518(b) uses age 21, requires no prior acceptance, and requires passage without the disclaimant's direction.

Delivery, filing, and recipient

For a will or intestacy interest, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-579(d) requires delivery to the legal representative of the estate or the holder of legal title. Probate Court filing is not a condition of the disclaimer. But filing a copy plus a receipt from the legal representative or titleholder—executed with the same deed formalities—within the nine-month period supplies conclusive evidence that delivery was timely.

For a non-testamentary interest, § 45a-583(d) instead permits delivery to the transferor, the transferor's legal representative, or the holder of legal title. That route covers trustees, insurers, plan or account arrangements, and other holders according to who fits the statute for the particular asset.

Real-property recording and notice

Connecticut records with the town clerk where the land is located. For will or intestacy real estate, § 45a-579(d)(4) requires recording a copy within the nine-month period. Without that timely recording, the disclaimer is ineffective against anyone other than the disclaimant or represented person as to that real-property interest.

For non-testamentary real estate, § 45a-583(d)(5) states a different rule. The disclaimer has no effect against other persons—except someone with actual knowledge—until recording. That subsection does not repeat § 45a-579's express within-nine-month recording clause.

Acceptance, transfer, insolvency, and creditor bars

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-580(a) bars the right after an assignment, conveyance, encumbrance, pledge, transfer, written waiver, acceptance of the interest or its benefits, or judicial sale. It also includes a Connecticut-specific real- estate bar: failing to redeem the equity of redemption after a judgment of strict foreclosure.

Section 45a-580(b) preserves the right despite a spendthrift clause or similar restriction, and subsection (c) binds the disclaimant and derivative claimants. The chapter's text does not state a separate insolvency or ordinary creditor- claim bar.

Effective date and destination

The governing instrument's express disclaimer clause comes first. Otherwise, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-579(e) treats an adult acting personally as having predeceased the deceased owner or power donee and relates the disclaimer back to the date of death. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-583(e) instead treats the person as dying immediately before the non-testamentary instrument's effective date and relates back to that date.

The effect applies provision by provision, so a person may still benefit under another part of the same instrument. Future interests and entity disclaimants have separate rules. A surviving joint tenant's real-property disclaimer uses the special severance-and-redistribution mechanism in § 45a-583(f), not the ordinary deemed-death rule.

What trips people up

• Using age 21 for the state deadline. Connecticut's state-law clock uses age 18; age 21 belongs to the separate federal tax rule.
• Missing the actual-knowledge clock. It applies to an unknown non-testamentary interest, not to the ordinary will/intestacy route.
• Treating every town-clerk rule as identical. Testamentary realty has an express within-nine-month recording condition; non-testamentary realty uses a third-party-effect rule that begins at recording.
• Partially disclaiming joint-tenancy land. Section 45a-583(f) says that partial disclaimer is void and supplies a special full-disclaimer effect.

Common questions

Do I have to file the disclaimer in Probate Court? Not as the basic validity step for an adult acting personally. Timely delivery is required; the optional court filing with a properly executed receipt creates conclusive evidence of timeliness for a will or intestacy interest.

Can I disclaim an inheritance I already accepted? Section 45a-580 lists acceptance of the interest or any benefit as a bar.

What if I did not know a nonprobate account named me? Section 45a-583 gives an actual-knowledge timing rule for an unknown non-testamentary interest.

Can I sign the disclaimer outside Connecticut? Yes. The execution sections allow deed formalities under Connecticut law or under the law of the place of execution.

Statutes and sources

• Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 45a-578 to 45a-585 — scope, document form, deadlines, recipients, recording, bars, irrevocability, and destination. Connecticut General Assembly, accessed 2026-08-01.
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-5(a) — Connecticut deed execution requires signature, acknowledgment, and two attesting witnesses. Connecticut General Assembly, accessed 2026-08-01.
• 26 U.S.C. § 2518(b) — separate federal qualified-disclaimer conditions. GovInfo, accessed 2026-08-01.