Tenancy in common by default
Under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-14a, a conveyance or devise to two or more people creates a tenancy in common by default. To get a joint tenancy with right of survivorship instead, the deed has to clearly and expressly declare that intent. Connecticut's own Standards of Title confirm this: a conveyance is effective to create co-tenancy with survivorship only if the instrument expresses the requisite intent — there's no automatic assumption either way for unmarried co-owners.
Tenancy by the entirety simply doesn't exist
Here's Connecticut's most distinctive rule: it does not recognize tenancy by the entirety at all, for married or unmarried co-owners alike. Where many states either automatically presume entirety for spouses or let them expressly choose it, Connecticut statute takes a different approach entirely — a deed that attempts to create a tenancy by the entirety is automatically converted by § 47-14a into an ordinary joint tenancy with right of survivorship instead. The practical result for spouses ends up similar to entirety in one sense (survivorship still applies), but without the distinct creditor protections that tenancy by the entirety offers in states that recognize it.
Watch the execution date
Connecticut's statutory method for creating survivorship rights has changed over time. This means the exact language needed to create a valid joint tenancy with survivorship can differ depending on when a deed was executed and recorded — a long-form deed to two or more parties years ago may follow different drafting conventions than what's required or expected today. Anyone examining an older Connecticut deed needs to pay careful attention to its execution and recording date before concluding whether survivorship was actually created.
Survivorship doesn't mean the estate tax can't reach it
Even though jointly held property with survivorship passes automatically to the surviving owner and skips the probate process, that automatic transfer happens subject to an inchoate Connecticut estate tax lien, along with probate liens generally. In practical terms, this means survivorship property isn't entirely walled off from Connecticut's state-level estate tax obligations just because it never goes through probate court — the state's tax claim can still attach.
Clearing title after a co-owner's death
When a joint tenant dies, the surviving owner typically clears title by recording an affidavit of surviving joint tenant with the town or city clerk, together with a certified copy of the death certificate. This confirms, for the land records, that title passed to the survivor by operation of the right of survivorship under § 47-14a, without needing a probate proceeding for that specific asset.
No deed-based alternative for real estate that isn't jointly titled
None of this changes the fact that Connecticut has no transfer-on-death deed for real estate that isn't already jointly titled this way, and no Lady Bird deed either. See our guide to Connecticut's repeated attempts to pass a TOD deed law.