Connecticut General Statutes 45a-542d – Determination and distribution of income interest of decedent’s estate or in trust after trust ends
After a decedent dies, in the case of an estate, or after an income interest in a trust ends, the following rules apply:
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 45a-542d
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Beneficiary: means a person that (A) has a present or future beneficial interest in a trust, vested or contingent. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Court: means a court of this state having jurisdiction over the matter pursuant to sections 45a-499o and 45a-499p or a court of another state having jurisdiction under the law of the other state. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership, whether real or personal and whether legal or equitable, or any interest therein. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
(1) A fiduciary of an estate or of a terminating income interest shall determine the amount of net income and net principal receipts received from property specifically given to a beneficiary under the rules in sections 45a-542f to 45a-542cc, inclusive, which apply to trustees and the rules in subdivision (5) of this section. The fiduciary shall distribute the net income and net principal receipts to the beneficiary who is to receive the specific property.
(2) A fiduciary shall determine the remaining net income of a decedent’s estate or a terminating income interest under the rules in sections 45a-542f to 45a-542cc, inclusive, which apply to trustees and by:
(A) Including in net income all income from property used to discharge liabilities;
(B) Paying from income or principal, in the fiduciary’s discretion, fees of attorneys, accountants and fiduciaries; court costs and other expenses of administration; and interest on death taxes, but the fiduciary may pay those expenses from income of property passing to a trust for which the fiduciary claims an estate tax marital or charitable deduction only to the extent that the payment of those expenses from income will not cause the reduction or loss of the deduction; and
(C) Paying from principal all other disbursements made or incurred in connection with the settlement of a decedent’s estate or the winding up of a terminating income interest, including debts, funeral expenses, disposition of remains, family allowances and death taxes and related penalties that are apportioned to the estate or terminating income interest by the will, the terms of the trust or applicable law.
(3) A fiduciary shall distribute to a beneficiary who receives a pecuniary amount outright the interest or any other amount provided by the will, the terms of the trust or this subdivision from net income determined under subdivision (2) of this section or from principal to the extent that net income is insufficient. Unless a will or trust waives such interest or provides for its calculation in a different amount or manner, a pecuniary amount payable outright shall bear simple interest in the amount of six per cent per year, beginning one year after the date of death in the case of pecuniary amounts payable under a will, or one year after the day the income interest ends in the case of pecuniary amounts payable from a trust after an income interest ends, and ending on the day the pecuniary amount is paid.
(4) A fiduciary shall distribute the net income remaining after distributions required by subdivision (3) of this section in the manner described in § 45a-542e to all other beneficiaries, including a beneficiary who receives a pecuniary amount in trust, even if the beneficiary holds an unqualified power to withdraw assets from the trust or other presently exercisable general power of appointment over the trust.
(5) A fiduciary may not reduce principal or income receipts from property described in subdivision (1) of this section because of a payment described in sections 45a-542x and 45a-542y to the extent that the will, the terms of the trust or applicable law requires the fiduciary to make the payment from assets other than the property or to the extent that the fiduciary recovers or expects to recover the payment from a third party. The net income and principal receipts from the property are determined by including all of the amounts the fiduciary receives or pays with respect to the property, whether those amounts accrued or became due before, on, or after the date of a decedent’s death or an income interest’s terminating event, and by making a reasonable provision for amounts that the fiduciary believes the estate or terminating income interest may become obligated to pay after the property is distributed.