A spouse shall not acquire by marriage any right to or interest in any property held by the other spouse before or acquired after such marriage, except as to the share of the survivor in the property as provided by sections
45a-436 and
45a-437. Each spouse shall have power to make contracts with the other spouse or with third persons, to convey to the other spouse or to third persons his or her real and personal estate and to receive conveyances of real and personal estate from the other spouse or from third persons as if unmarried. Each spouse may bring suit in his or her own name upon contracts or for torts and he or she may be sued for a breach of contract or for a tort; and his or her property, except such property as is exempt by law, may be taken on attachment and execution, but shall not be taken for the debts of the other spouse, except as provided in section
46b-37. Neither spouse shall be liable for the debts of the other spouse contracted before marriage, nor upon the other spouse's contracts made after marriage, except as provided in said section.
(1949 Rev., S. 7307; P.A. 13-213, S. 1.)
History: Sec. 46-9 transferred to Sec. 46b-36 in 1979 and reference to Sec. 46-10 changed to Sec. 46b-37 to reflect that section's transfer; (Revisor's note: In 1991 a reference to Sec. 45-273a changed editorially by the Revisors to Sec. 45a-436 to reflect recodification of title 45 as title 45a and in 1993 the reference to Sec. 45a-437 was added editorially since the provisions of that section had originally been included as former Sec. 45-273a(b) until separated by public act 90-146 which enabled the recodification of title 45 and the renumbering of Sec. 45-273a as Secs. 45a-436 and 45a-437, but due to an oversight reference to the latter section was omitted); P.A. 13-213 replaced references to “husband” and “wife” with references to “spouse”, deleted “The separate earnings of the wife shall be her sole property.” and made technical changes.
See Sec. 52-572d re abrogation of interspousal immunity in motor vehicle negligence actions accruing out of state.
Annotations to former section 46-9:
Prior to enacting of section, wife could not bind herself as surety for husband. 56 C. 151; 68 C. 538. Not construed as depriving her of the right in equity to contract with her husband in regard to her property. 56 C. 186. Married woman, during her lifetime, may dispose of all her property as she pleases. 71 C. 237. Legal and equitable title to mortgage are not merged where one makes it and the other acquires it by assignment; wife, occupying with husband, cannot hold adversely to him. 76 C. 223. Present status of married woman. 79 C. 24; 84 C. 21; 88 C. 42; 93 C. 358. Married woman may sue husband. 79 C. 24; 88 C. 42; 103 C. 583; 124 C. 543; 126 C. 147; 132 C. 79. Where husband and wife make note jointly, payment of interest by either is binding on other. 81 C. 143. Rights in building erected on land owned by husband and wife jointly. 82 C. 426; 86 C. 200. Deed to husband and wife makes them joint tenants without survivorship. 83 C. 581. Wife may sue for personal injury to herself; 84 C. 9; or alienation of husband's affections. 76 C. 135; 78 C. 296. Estoppel of wife from letting legal title to her property remain in husband; husband's right to foreclosure against wife. 87 C. 99. Where wife advances money to her husband, there is a presumption of a gift. 88 C. 114. Wife in whose name husband causes deed of land purchased by him to be taken is bare trustee for him. 91 C. 656. Marriage presumed to be after April 20, 1877, unless proved to be earlier. 93 C. 358. Fraudulent representations of husband as to title of property held jointly with wife do not bind her if made without her knowledge or assent. 94 C. 227. Cited. 108 C. 730. Right given married woman to sue husband denied unemancipated child in suit against parent. 109 C. 86. Cited. 137 C. 452. Does not indicate a legislative intent to permit recovery for loss of consortium in any action brought by either a husband or a wife against a third party whose negligence caused disabling injuries to the other spouse. 144 C. 155. Wife can recover from husband because of delict of son who was his agent but is himself immune to suit. 145 C. 663. Right of wife to sue husband is a substantive right. Id., 733. Cited. 147 C. 649; 159 C. 486; 165 C. 742, 748; 170 C. 258, 269.
Cited. 4 CS 145. Public policy of this state not opposed to right of wife to sue husband in tort for cause of action arising in Pennsylvania before parties were married. 18 CS 297. A wife domiciled in this state, and living with her husband so domiciled, may not maintain a tort action against the latter in this state for injuries sustained in Massachusetts. 20 CS 403. Public policy forbids maintenance of negligence action by unemancipated minor child against his parents. 24 CS 382. Cited. 30 CS 593. Wife may sue for husband's medical expenses for which she is legally liable. 32 CS 156. Spouses property rights not affected by marriage. 33 CS 44.
Annotations to present section:
Cited. 178 C. 308; 183 C. 35. Neither marriage nor an action for dissolution serves, in and of itself, to transfer an interest in property from one spouse to another. 184 C. 530. Cited. 200 C. 290; 206 C. 31.
Cited. 17 CA 431.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
16
cases (
2 in the last 5 years), 1979–2024 · leading case:
Dzenutis v. Dzenutis, 512 A.2d 130 (Conn. 1986).
Dzenutis v. Dzenutis, 512 A.2d 130 (Conn. 1986).
· cites it 2× “” General Statutes § 46b-36. The marital relationship does not bar the suit.”
Molitor v. Molitor, 440 A.2d 215 (Conn. 1981).
· cites it 2× “The same residual interest that gives the defendant standing in this court afforded subject matter jurisdiction to the trial court. A party to an action for dissolution does not have unlimited power to frustrate orderly judicial adjudication of rights in marital property.”
Wendt v. Wendt, 757 A.2d 1225 (Conn. App. Ct. 2000).
· cites it 2× “114, now General Statutes § 46b-36]; the nineteenth amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in Connecticut on September 14 and 20, 1920; and the ERA to the Connecticut constitution, adopted *688 November 27, 1974.”
Hodge v. Hodge, 422 A.2d 280 (Conn. 1979).
· cites it 2× “7 Now General Statutes § 46b-36. The relevant provision is: “Neither husband nor wife shall acquire by the marriage any right to or interest in any property held by the other before or acquired after such marriage, except as to the share of the survivor in the property as…”
Yale Univ. Sch. of Med. v. Collier, 536 A.2d 588 (Conn. 1988).
· cites it 2× “General Statutes § 46b-37 (a) provides that “[a]ll purchase[s] made by either a husband or wife in his or her own name shall be presumed in the absence of notice to the contrary, to be made by him or her as an individual and he or she shall be liable for the purchase.”
Jackson v. Jackson, 553 A.2d 631 (Conn. App. Ct. 1989).
· cites it 3× “The defendant claims that such inclusion violates General Statutes § 46b-36, which provides in pertinent part that “[n]either husband nor wife shall acquire by the marriage any right to or interest in any property held by the other before or acquired after such marriage, except…”
Porter v. Thrane, 908 A.2d 1137 (Conn. App. Ct. 2006).
· cites it 2× “The defendant does not cite any Connecticut authority that supports her assertion, nor could we find any such authority.”
North v. North, 438 A.2d 807 (Conn. 1981).
· cites it 2× “He argues that such an assignment is contrary to § 46b-36 which provides that “[n] either husband nor wife shall acquire by the marriage any right to or interest in any property held by the other before or acquired after such marriage, except as to the share of the survivor in…”
Utzler v. Braca, 972 A.2d 743 (Conn. App. Ct. 2009).
· cites it 2× “211 (now General Statutes § 46b-36) entitled “An Act in Alteration of the Act concerning Domestic Relations,” but commonly called the Married Women’s Act, makes such an argument untenable.”
In Re Edwards, 400 B.R. 345 (D. Conn. 2008).
· cites it 2× “at 645 ; Conn. Gen.Stat. § 46b-36. The court also recognizes the policy considerations favoring the majority approach.”
Burke v. Mesniaeff, 173 A.3d 393 (Conn. App. Ct. 2017).
· cites it 2× “) "Marital property" is a term of art reserved for the distribution of assets in an action for marital dissolution.”
Parrotta v. Parrotta, 988 A.2d 383 (Conn. App. Ct. 2010).
“§ 46b-81, the situation is governed by [General Statutes] § 46b-36. That statute explicitly provides that neither the husband nor the wife acquires by virtue of the marriage any right to or interest in any property held by the other before or acquired after the marriage.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.