Ellington Probate Court, CT Probate Information

Identify the right Connecticut court and route. File in the Ellington Probate Court if the decedent was domiciled in Ellington or Vernon under C.G.S. section 45a-283 for a will matter or C.G.S. section 45a-303 for an intestate matter. If the estate may qualify for the small estates procedure, use the C.G.S. section 45a-273 affidavit path instead of a full administration.

Prepare the opening papers. A full estate generally starts with PC-200, Petition/Administration or Probate of Will, filed in the district where the Connecticut resident decedent was domiciled under C.G.S. section 45a-283. The original will, if any, must be delivered on paper because it cannot be eFiled under Probate Court Rules of Procedure, section 7.1a.

File with the Ellington Probate Court. You may file by paper at 32 Park Place in Vernon or use Connecticut's statewide TurboCourt eFiling system if you are eligible. Attorneys who appear in a probate matter must register under Probate Court Rules of Procedure, section 22.1; registration is optional for self-represented filers.

Plan for the court's fee model. Connecticut does not charge a filing fee to open a decedent's estate. Under section 6.1 of the Probate Court Rules of Procedure, the statutory filing fee is due at filing in every kind of Probate Court matter except a decedent's estate and an accounting. Instead, the Ellington Probate Court bills the estate later. The fee is set by statute and is the same in all 54 Connecticut probate districts (C.G.S. section 45a-105). For a person who died on or after July 1, 2016, it is graduated on the greater of the inventory, the gross estate or the Connecticut taxable estate, running from $25 up to a cap of $40,000, with a minimum of $150 where a full estate is opened on a basis under $10,000, and with any portion passing to a surviving spouse counted at half (C.G.S. section 45a-107). The fee is owed on everything the decedent owned, including assets that pass outside probate, and it is owed whether or not an estate is opened at all. Interest of 0.5 per cent per month runs on a probate fee that is unpaid thirty days after the court's invoice, and separately on the fee of an estate whose Connecticut estate tax return is filed late (C.G.S. section 45a-107). ctprobate.gov publishes a fee calculator at ctprobate.gov/fees-expenses-calculators.

Handle notice and any hearing. The court may set a hearing, may act after written waivers, or may use the streamline notice procedure under Probate Court Rules of Procedure, section 8.6. Connecticut Probate Courts may allow a party, witness or attorney to take part in a hearing, conference or deposition by electronic means. Section 66.1 of the Probate Court Rules of Procedure lets the court permit it on request or on its own motion, weighing factors that include the nature of the proceeding, the technology available, and whether remote participation would still allow full examination of witnesses. It is a request the court decides, not a right, and the rule names no platform. Ask the clerk of the Ellington Probate Court what that court expects.

Obtain authority after appointment. When the Probate Court appoints you, the court's clerk issues a certificate of your appointment as fiduciary. Under C.G.S. section 45a-200 that certificate is sufficient evidence of your authority and identity for one year from the date it is issued, so a bank or transfer agent may ask for a recently issued copy. Ask the clerk of the Ellington Probate Court for as many certified copies as you expect to need, and expect to request fresh ones if the estate stays open past a year.

Administer the estate. File the inventory using PC-2407 within two months after qualification unless the court extends the time for cause to not more than four months under C.G.S. section 45a-341. The court places the newspaper notice to creditors within 14 days after appointment under C.G.S. section 45a-354, creditors have the statutory 150-day period described in C.G.S. section 45a-356, and the fiduciary files the return of claims on PC-237 under C.G.S. section 45a-361.

File tax and closing papers. The Connecticut estate tax return is due within six months of death. For a 2026 estate at or below the $15 million exemption, CT-706 NT is filed with the Probate Court; if CT-706/709 is required, the original goes to the Commissioner of Revenue Services and a copy goes to the Probate Court. Most estates close with a financial report on PC-246 under Probate Court Rules of Procedure, section 30.19, followed by any required affidavit of closing on PC-213 under section 36.12.