Death Certificates

A Death Certificate is a legal document that has a section completed by the Primary or Attending Doctor and the remaining section completed by the funeral home with the information provided to us by the family. We file the death certificate for you in the Town Hall where the deceased passed away, and we will obtain "certified" copies of the death certificate from the Town Hall for the family to use afterwards.

We will ask how many certified death certificates you need us to get for you. Please consider the following when coming up with that number. The State of Connecticut currently charges of fee of $20 for each certified death certificate.

Your Records
Each individual life insurance policy
Pension claims
Attorney or probating a Will
Deed or title transfers and real estate transactions
Tax Collector in the county where property is owned
Vehicle Title Transfers
Bank accounts if NOT a joint account
Individual stocks or Bonds
Social Security, if eligible for a death benefit.

Probate

One of the most common questions we get from families when we are meeting with them AFTER a funeral is "Do I have to go through probate?" This leads next to "How do I go through probate?" and "Do I need a lawyer?" Well... that depends. We are not lawyers and, while we communicate regularly with local Probate Courts (Probate cannot be finalized for a deceased person until their funeral expenses are paid), and we understand the principles, we are not experts in any way.

What follow is one of the best, and most readable descriptions we have found of the Probate system in Connecticut and how it might affect you. It is reprinted with permission of the author Lisa Nachmias Davis. No endorsement is implied.

...CT law requires that anyone with custody of a person's original last will and testament take that will to the probate court for the town where the person resided (check this link for the correct court location). The will is filed with a simple form, "PC-211" (download PDF), and a death certificate with the Social Security number crossed out. (The court wants an original; you can cross it out on a photocopy that the Court can keep, but you would also bring or mail an original and ask for that to be returned.)

Just because there is a will, is "probate" required? Depends what you mean by "probate." Technically, "probate" is a legal procedure that takes at least five months, involves court hearings, means that the COURT (not a document) appoints an executor (if named in the will) or administrator (if not), and requires filing several forms with copies to many parties. "Probate" is ONLY required by law if the person who dies, with or without a will, owned real estate (not just a life use) that does not pass by the deed to the "surviving" joint owner, OR owned $40,000 or more of other assets that also don't pass by beneficiary or joint ownership to another person. (This could include life insurance, if there was no beneficiary or the beneficiary was deceased.) You can read more about this (PDF again) on the Probate Court website, too. So whether or not "probate" is required depends on what was owned, and how it was owned.

What if the person died owning something, but not real estate and not as much as $40,000 or other stuff? (Not counting the things that passed by beneficiary designation, joint ownership, etc.)

If the person owned assets, but NOT real estate, and LESS than $40,000 (not counting what passed by beneficiary, etc.), there is still some paperwork to be done at the Probate Court in order to get those assets out of the dead person's name and into someone else's. That is -- it depends. If the person's "assets" consisted of old furniture, dishes, and a few books, nobody is probably going to ask for paperwork if the children, or the family friend -- whoever is in charge -- takes the stuff home or to Goodwill. The assumption is that the cost of removal wipes out the value of the items. (If the person's "assets" consist of collection of Hummel figurines and the family is about to come to blows over who gets which one, that could be different!) Ordinary "stuff" doesn't require the Probate Court unless there is an argument about what happens to it.

Assume for the moment that Dad owned bank or brokerage accounts jointly with Joe and Suzy, and these accounts passed to Joe and Suzy upon death. However, his $5,000 life insurance policy named Mom, who died five years ago. The insurance company won't pay the $5,000 to Joe and Suzy but want to make the check to "Estate of Dad." What to do? Joe or Suzy can file Form PC-212 with the probate court. This form lists the funeral and other expenses plus any debts Dad owned when he died. It also asks for a list of what Dad owned that requires disposition (in this case, only the $5,000). If the expenses are more than $5,000, whoever files the PC-212 can ask that the $5,000 be paid over to whoever paid the expenses. If the expenses (let's say, the funeral expenses) have not been paid, the form can ask that the $5,000 be paid over to whoever is owed (let's say, the funeral home). I keep mentioning the funeral home because the court will ask not only for the death certificate but for a copy of the funeral bill saying "paid." In either case, once the tax return is filed (SEE BELOW) and probate fee paid (SAME) and another $15 paid, the Court will issue a decree saying that the $5,000 goes to whoever paid the expenses. But suppose the expenses were $10,000 and the life insurance that has no beneficiary has $30,000 of proceeds. THEN the extra $20,000 has to go to the beneficiaries in the will, or if there is no will, to the "heirs." This requires Form PC-212A, request for an order of distribution. If Dad had 10 kids, then even if the will left everything to John and Suzy, the form will have to include a list of the other 8 children and their addresses, and they must all get copies of the form. This is because without a will, all 8 would be heirs. This can be a real pain! Almost as bad as "real probate." In our office we refer to this whole PC-212/PC-212A process as "mini probate." It's a little like probate, just faster. Keep in mind that if Dad had a $1 million living trust to avoid probate, but left his car in his sole name -- no help for it, this mini probate is required.

DON'T RUSH THIS. It's annoying enough without having to do it twice. The car title is one big issue, of course. Another item often overlooked is the deceased person's INCOME TAX REFUND. If he/she died after paying estimated taxes or having taxes withheld, there may be a refund. If the deceased person was married, everything can probably go on the joint tax return and the refund can just be issued to the spouse, but if not married, then the refund may have to be listed on PC-212 discussed above, or go through probate if big enough. (In any case, an income tax return will have to be filed by April 15th of the year following death.) Other refunds to look out for: refunds from assisted living facilities; security deposits; insurance payments. Check CTbiglist.com for unclaimed checks. If Dad owned MetLife or other mutual insurance, check for stock he didn't know he had. Also -- if there are a lot of heirs, make sure you wait for all the doctor copays, monument charges, etc. If expenses are more than assets, he or she who pays them gets the assets, which is simpler paperwork. Don't rush.

What if the person died owning NOTHING AT ALL that requires even "mini" probate? AND had no will? Suppose Dad paid someone $5,000 to do a fancy living trust document and carefully titled every last little thing in the trust?

Bad news. There is still paperwork to file with the probate court. This is the infamous CT estate tax return -- either CT 706 or CT 706 NT. This is due whether you are doing probate, mini probate, or no probate.

If the person owned $2 million or more of whatever, in any form (even in a living trust, even with beneficiaries, even life insurance) then an actual estate tax return, CT 706, is required and probably tax will be owed, starting at 7% on amounts over $2 million. Click here for the DRS webpage that has all these returns. And CALL A LAWYER. This you don't do yourself. For years prior to this year, click here for older forms.

But even if the person died homeless on the New Haven Green and owned only a tent, the law seems to require a tax return -- in this case a CT 706 NT, the CT estate tax return for so-called "non-taxable" (under $2 million) estates. Click here . This is due 6 months after the person's death.

For our friend in the tent, the fee for the CT 706 NT would be $25, the minimum fee, not zero, but probably nobody would feel any need to file the CT 706 NT and the court is not going to hunt someone down to pay that $25. For that matter, if Dad owned no real estate, but only a $10,000 bank account titled jointly with John and Suzy, probably if they "forget" to file the return, nobody is going to hunt them down either, although the the law is the law and as a lawyer I can't tell anyone not to obey the law.

When real estate is involved, however, or probate or "mini probate," you can't get away from it.

Suppose Mom and Dad owned a house jointly when Mom died five years ago. Nobody did anything when Mom died. Now Dad has died too (or wants to sell and move to assisted living.) Filing the return due when Mom died would be required now in order to clear title to the home, that is, in order to make the buyer's and mortgage company's title insurer satisfied and let the sale go through. They want the "opinion of no tax" that the court issues once the return is filed. (P.S. they may also want a "certificate of release of lien" filed on the land records; for this you fill out and file Form PC-205.)

Problem is, when the CT 706NT form is filed, by return mail you will get a BILL from the Probate Court -- even though there is no probate at all, and even though no tax is due either! Despite the fact that Mom's estate owed "no estate tax," a so-called "fee" must be paid to Treasurer, State of Connecticut c/o the Probate Court, assessed on the value of Mom's interests when she died. This includes not only her half of the house, but her half of any joint bank accounts, etc. and even the value of any survivor benefits on her pension that pass to Dad after she dies. If this adds up to $100,000, and Dad outlives her, the fee will be $377.50 (perhaps more if a will has to be filed or there are attachments to the form). When Dad dies, and he isn't married at that time and still owns $100,000, a new CT 706 NT will be required. This time, the fee will be $465. The fee starts at $25 and tops out at $12,500 on estates of $4,754,000.

Why not just wait until the house is sold to file this thing and pay this fee? One reason may be interest (for those dying after 1/1/11). The CT 706 NT is due six months after death, although extensions are available - there is a form (PDF) for that too. But if the CT 706 NT is not filed when due (with extensions), interest is assessed. The only exception is where the assets are $40,000 or less OR any portion of the estate passes to the surviving spouse "and the basis for costs" (that is, the person's assets reduced by 50% of what passes to the surviving spouse) "does not exceed $500,000." So where Mom/Dad have a little house and a savings account, all owned jointly, no more than $2 million combined, no interest due. (Basis would be $1 M - $500,000 = $500,000.) Another reason to file timely, however: record-keeping. If you wait for years to file the darn thing, how are you going to figure out what the house, bank account, etc. was worth at time of death? Then again -- who will know if you get it wrong?

Lots of important information here. Contact information for the author, Attorney Lisa Nachmias Davis, is as follows:

Davis O'Sullivan & Priest LLC
129 Church Street, Suite 805
New Haven, CT 06510
203-776-4400