Estate Planning Attorney in Fairfield, CT

A straightforward Connecticut will package generally runs a few hundred dollars. A funded revocable trust plan, which is what most Fairfield homeowners actually need, typically runs in the low thousands and rises with complexity, multiple properties, a business, or estate tax exposure. We quote a flat fee at your free consultation, so the number is settled before any work starts. Set against what an unplanned estate loses to probate, the plan is almost always the cheaper line item.

Most Fairfield homeowners are better served by a revocable living trust. It keeps the house and accounts out of the Fairfield Probate Court, keeps the estate private, and controls when and how children inherit. A well-drafted will can be enough for renters or genuinely simple estates. Which one fits you depends on what you own and who you are protecting, and that is exactly what the free consultation sorts out.

Yes. Assets properly funded into a revocable living trust in Connecticut before death pass to your beneficiaries without probate. The catch is funding: the trust only works if assets are actually retitled into it. A Connecticut estate tax return may still need to be filed even when probate is avoided.

A Fairfield estate is administered through the Fairfield Probate Court. The named executor files the will, the court supervises notice to creditors and the final distribution, and the estate closes once debts, taxes, and accounting are settled, usually 9 to 12 months for a clean estate. If you have just been named an executor, our Connecticut probate attorney page walks through the first steps.

Yes. Connecticut taxes estates separately from the federal government. For 2026, the Connecticut exemption is $15 million per person, indexed for inflation, with a flat 12% rate on value above that line. It matters for Fairfield because a Greenfield Hill or beachfront home, plus retirement and investment accounts and a business, can move a high-net-worth family toward that threshold, and Connecticut allows no portability between spouses without trust planning.

Connecticut has no inheritance tax, so a beneficiary owes nothing on what they personally receive. The estate itself may owe Connecticut estate tax if its total value exceeds the $15 million 2026 exemption. The distinction matters: an estate tax is paid by the estate before anything is distributed, while an inheritance tax, which Connecticut does not have, would be charged to the heir. Planning ahead can shrink or remove that estate-level exposure.

Connecticut's intestacy statute decides everything for you. A fixed formula splits your estate between spouse and children regardless of what you would have wanted, which routinely blindsides blended families. The Probate Court appoints an administrator, the court rather than you settles guardianship of any minor children, and the entire process sits on the public record.

Look for a Connecticut-licensed attorney who concentrates on estate planning, will explain the options in plain English, and offers a real consultation before you commit. Ask how they price, flat fee or hourly, and ask specifically whether they fund the trust for you or just hand you documents. An unfunded trust is the single most common reason a plan fails.