(a) If there is no will, or if any part of the property, real or personal, legally or equitably owned by the decedent at the time of his or her death, is not effectively disposed of by the will or codicil of the decedent, the portion of the intestate estate of the decedent, determined after payment of any support allowance from principal pursuant to section
45a-320, which the surviving spouse shall take is:
(1) If there is no surviving issue or parent of the decedent, the entire intestate estate absolutely;
(2) If there is no surviving issue of the decedent but the decedent is survived by a parent or parents, the first one hundred thousand dollars plus three-quarters of the balance of the intestate estate absolutely;
(3) If there are surviving issue of the decedent all of whom are also issue of the surviving spouse, the first one hundred thousand dollars plus one-half of the balance of the intestate estate absolutely;
(4) If there are surviving issue of the decedent one or more of whom are not issue of the surviving spouse, one-half of the intestate estate absolutely.
(b) For the purposes of this section:
(1) Issue includes children who qualify for inheritance under the provisions of section 45a-438 and the legal representatives of such children;
(2) A person shall be considered a parent if the person qualifies for inheritance from or through the child under the provisions of section 45a-438b.
(P.A. 90-146, S. 10; P.A. 92-118, S. 4; P.A. 14-104, S. 3; P.A. 21-15, S. 102.)
History: P.A. 92-118 changed reference to “45a-437” to “45a-438”; P.A. 14-104 amended Subsec. (b) to designate existing provision re issue as Subdiv. (1) and amend same to redefine “issue”, add Subdiv. (2) re when father of child born out of wedlock is considered a parent, and make technical changes; P.A. 21-15 amended Subsec. (b) by deleting “born out of wedlock” in Subdiv. (1) and by replacing “father of a child born out of wedlock” with “person” and making a conforming change in Subdiv. (2), effective January 1, 2022.
See Sec. 45a-436(g) re intestate share of surviving spouse who, without sufficient cause, abandoned the other and continued such abandonment to the time of the other's death.
Cited. 226 C. 51; 238 C. 839. Subsec. (a): A September 11th Victim Compensation Fund award is payment made directly to plaintiff in express contemplation of the absence of probate court supervision over plaintiff's receipt and use of the award and was not the property of the decedent or the decedent's estate, thus the Probate Court lacked jurisdiction over the award as part of its supervision of the administration of intestate estates under Subsec. 331 C. 385.
Cited. 34 CA 579.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
15
cases (
4 in the last 5 years), 1993–2025 · leading case:
Dalia v. Lawrence, 627 A.2d 392 (Conn. 1993).
Dalia v. Lawrence, 627 A.2d 392 (Conn. 1993).
· cites it 8× “General Statutes § 45a-437 (a), regarding the surviving spouse’s intestate share, retained the parallel language—“any part of the property, real or personal, legally or equitably owned by the decedent at the time of his or her death”—that defined the decedent’s “intestate…”
Hynes v. Jones, 204 A.3d 1128 (Conn. 2019).
· cites it 5× “Additionally, General Statutes § 45a-437 (a) 12 provides that a surviving spouse shall take the first $ 100,000 plus one half of an intestate estate.”
Elgar v. Elgar, 679 A.2d 937 (Conn. 1996).
· cites it 2× “See General Statutes § 45a-437, which provides in relevant part: “Intestate succession.”
Hynes v. Jones, 167 A.3d 375 (Conn. App. Ct. 2017).
· cites it 4× “" General Statutes § 45a-437 (a) provides in relevant part: "If there is no will .”
Dinan v. Marchand, 903 A.2d 201 (Conn. 2006).
· cites it 2× “See General Statutes § 45a-437, which provides in relevant part: ‘Intestate succession.”
Kucej v. Kucej, 642 A.2d 81 (Conn. App. Ct. 1994).
· cites it 2× “General Statutes §§ 45a-437 and 45a-438. Pursuant to § 45a-303 (c), an heir of the decedent can object to the appointment of an administrator or administratrix of the decedent’s intestate estate.”
Dinan v. Marchand, 881 A.2d 503 (Conn. App. Ct. 2005).
· cites it 5× “See General Statutes §§ 45a-437 9 and 45a-438.”
Sandford v. Metcalfe, 954 A.2d 188 (Conn. App. Ct. 2008).
“*169 “(g) A surviving husband or wife shall not be entitled to a statutory share, as provided in subsection (a) of this section, or an intestate share, as provided in section 45a-437, in the property of the other if such surviving spouse, without sufficient cause, abandoned the…”
Dinan v. Patten (Conn. 2015).
· cites it 8× “See General Statutes § 45a-436 (a). If there is no will, or, to the extent that a will does not dispose of the entire estate, the surviving spouse is entitled to an intestate share.”
United States v. Shotkin (D. Conn. 2021).
· cites it 4× “8 General Statutes § 45a-437 (a) provides in relevant part: “If there is no will .”
Shotkin v. United States (D. Conn. 2021).
· cites it 4× “8 General Statutes § 45a-437 (a) provides in relevant part: “If there is no will .”
Schwerin v. Ratcliffe, 335 Conn. 300 (Conn. 2020).
· cites it 3× “See General Statutes § 45a-438 (a)12 (‘‘[a]fter distri- bution has been made of the intestate estate to the sur- viving spouse in accordance with section 45a-437, the residue of the real and personal estate shall be distrib- uted equally, according to its value at the time of…”
— Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-437(a) — 2 cases
United States v. Shotkin (D. Conn. 2021).
“8 General Statutes § 45a-437 (a) provides in relevant part: “If there is no will .”
Shotkin v. United States (D. Conn. 2021).
“8 General Statutes § 45a-437 (a) provides in relevant part: “If there is no will .”
— Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-437(a)(1) — 1 case
— Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-437(a)(3) — 1 case
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