2022 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 45a - Probate Courts and Procedure
Chapter 802b - Decedents' Estates:
Section 45a-438. (Formerly Sec. 45-274). - Distribution to children. Inheritance of child from or through parent.
(a) After distribution has been made of the intestate estate to the surviving spouse in accordance with section 45a-437, the residue of the real and personal estate shall be distributed equally, according to its value at the time of distribution, among the children, including children born after the death of the decedent, as provided in subsection (a) of section 45a-785, and the legal representatives of any of them who may be dead, except that children or other descendants who receive estate by advancement of the intestate in the intestate's lifetime shall themselves or their representatives have only so much of the estate as will, together with such advancement, make their share equal to what they would have been entitled to receive had no such advancement been made.
(b) Except as provided in section 45a-731, for the purposes of this chapter, a child and the child's legal representatives shall qualify for inheritance from or through the parent if parentage is established in accordance with the provisions of the Connecticut Parentage Act or by adoption. If parentage is based on subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of section 46b-488 or sections 46b-495 to 46b-505, inclusive, of the Connecticut Parentage Act, parentage shall be established by a voluntary acknowledgment of parentage under sections 46b-476 to 46b-487, inclusive, of the Connecticut Parentage Act, or by court adjudication.
(1949 Rev., S. 7058; P.A. 78-199, S. 1; P.A. 90-146, S. 11; P.A. 91-109, S. 1; P.A. 95-316, S. 5; P.A. 96-180, S. 159, 166; P.A. 13-301, S. 7; P.A. 14-104, S. 4; P.A. 21-15, S. 103.)
History: P.A. 78-199 designated previous provisions as Subsecs. (a) and (b) (1) and added Subsecs. (b)(2) and (c) re children born out of wedlock; P.A. 90-146 made technical revisions in Subsec. (a); Sec. 45-274 transferred to Sec. 45a-438 in 1991; P.A. 91-109 amended Subsec. (b) to permit inheritance by child born out of wedlock from father if paternity is established by the probate court, after death of the father or the child, by clear and convincing evidence that father has acknowledged in writing that he is the father of the child and has openly treated the child as his; P.A. 95-316 replaced former Subsec. (b) re children born before marriage and inheritance by children born out of wedlock with new Subsec. (b) which stated that except as provided in Sec. 45a-731, an individual is the child of his genetic parents regardless of their marital status, and set out when the father of a child born out of wedlock shall be considered a parent, and made technical changes in Subsec. (a) and (c); P.A. 96-180 made technical change in Subsec. (b), effective June 3, 1996; P.A. 13-301 amended Subsec. (a) by adding “including children born after the death of the decedent, as provided in subsection (a) of section 45a-785,”; P.A. 14-104 amended Subsec. (b) to replace provisions re genetic parents and child born out of wedlock with provisions re inheritance of child born out of wedlock and child's legal representatives, deleted former Subsec. (c) re legal representatives, and made technical changes; P.A. 21-15 amended Subsec. (b) by deleting “born out of wedlock” and replacing provisions re inheriting through father if paternity established by written acknowledgment of paternity under Sec. 46b-172 or adjudicated by court of competent jurisdiction under Ch. 815y with provisions re establishing parentage in accordance with the Connecticut Parentage Act or by adoption, effective January 1, 2022.
