Estate Planning Attorney for Connecticut Families

Estate planning is not just for the wealthy, and it's not just about what happens after you pass. It's about making sure the people you love are cared for — your children, your spouse, your parents, your partner — and that the decisions about your health, your home, and your family are made by the people you choose, guided by your values.

I'm Aakash Sharma, and I started the Law Office of Aakash Sharma, LLC to help Connecticut families put these protections in place. I work primarily with young families, blended families, and people with modest estates who want a plan that actually fits their lives — not a one-size-fits-all package designed for someone else.

Call (860) 560-8382 or complete the contact form to schedule a consultation.

Why Estate Planning Matters — Even If Your Estate Is Modest

A common misconception is that estate planning is only for people with significant wealth. It isn't. The most important questions an estate plan answers have very little to do with taxes:

• Who will raise your children if something happens to you and your co-parent?
• Who will make medical decisions for you if you can't speak for yourself?
• Who will manage your finances and pay your bills if you're hospitalized or incapacitated?
• How will your spouse, partner, or chosen family be protected — especially in a blended family, where state default rules may not reflect your actual wishes?
• How will your home, savings, and personal belongings pass to the people you want to receive them, with the least possible delay and conflict?

Without a plan, Connecticut's default laws answer these questions for you. Sometimes those defaults align with what you would have chosen. Often, they don't.

What Happens Without an Estate Plan in Connecticut

If you pass away without a will, you are said to have died intestate, and Connecticut's intestate succession statutes (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-437 through § 45a-439) determine who inherits — not you.

A few examples of how Connecticut's default rules can surprise families:

• Blended families — If you're in a second marriage with children from a prior relationship, Connecticut's intestate rules divide your estate between your current spouse and your children from the prior relationship in fixed statutory shares. If that's not what you want, you need a plan.
• Unmarried partners — Connecticut intestacy law does not recognize a long-term unmarried partner. Without a will or trust, your partner receives nothing.
• Minor children — Without a named guardian, the Connecticut Probate Court decides who raises your children. The court will do its best, but no judge knows your children or your family the way you do.
• Adult children with special needs — Without a properly drafted special needs trust, an inheritance can disqualify an adult child from benefits like Medicaid or SSI.

Dying without a plan also means your estate goes through probate, which takes longer, costs more, and is a matter of public record.

What About Incapacity?

Estate planning isn't only about death. It's also about what happens if you're alive but unable to make decisions — after a serious accident, during a long illness, or as you age.

Without the right documents in place, your family may need to go to court to be appointed your conservator before they can make medical or financial decisions on your behalf. A well-drafted estate plan avoids that by naming the people you trust in advance through:

• A durable power of attorney under Connecticut's Uniform Power of Attorney Act (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-350 et seq.), authorizing someone to handle your finances
• A health care representative designation and living will under Connecticut law, authorizing someone to make medical decisions and stating your wishes about end-of-life care
• A HIPAA authorization, so your chosen decision-maker can actually access your medical information

These documents cost relatively little to put in place. They can save your family an enormous amount of stress, time, and expense when they're needed.

What a Connecticut Estate Plan Typically Includes

Every estate plan is different, but for most young families, blended families, and modest estates, a core plan includes:

• A last will and testament naming guardians for minor children and directing how your assets are distributed
• Durable power of attorney for financial matters
• Health care representative and living will for medical decisions
• HIPAA authorization
• Review and coordination of beneficiary designations on life insurance, retirement accounts, and bank accounts (these pass outside your will)
• Titling review of your home and other major assets

For some families — particularly blended families, families with minor children, or those seeking to avoid probate — a revocable living trust may also make sense. Whether a trust is right for you depends on your circumstances. Not every family needs one, and I will tell you honestly when a simpler plan will do the job.

A Note on Connecticut Estate Taxes

For most families, Connecticut estate tax is not a concern. The Connecticut estate tax exemption is $15 million per person in 2026, matching the federal exemption. Estates below that threshold pay no Connecticut or federal estate tax.

That said, Connecticut has a few quirks worth knowing about:

• Connecticut is one of only a handful of states with its own estate tax
• Connecticut is currently the only state with its own gift tax
• Connecticut does not allow portability of the estate tax exemption between spouses, meaning that without planning, a surviving spouse cannot use their deceased spouse's unused exemption

If your estate is approaching these thresholds, we will discuss planning strategies. For most of the families I work with, the focus is on the non-tax priorities — guardianship, incapacity planning, and making sure the right people are protected.

Estate Planning and the Bigger Picture: Elder Law and Medicaid

Estate planning often overlaps with planning for long-term care. Connecticut's Medicaid program — which pays for nursing home care when private resources are exhausted — has strict financial eligibility rules and a five-year lookback period for transfers of assets. It also has estate recovery, meaning the state can seek reimbursement for Medicaid benefits paid during a recipient's lifetime from the recipient's probate estate after death (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17b-93).

For families thinking about aging parents or planning ahead for their own care, this matters. A basic estate plan may not be enough. If long-term care planning is a concern for you or a loved one, I will flag the elder law considerations during our consultation and, if needed, we can build a plan that addresses both.

How I Work With Clients

I keep the process straightforward:

1. Initial consultation — We talk about your family, what matters to you, and what you're worried about. No pressure, no upsell.
2. Flat-fee engagement — For most estate plans, I work on a flat fee so you know what you're paying before we begin. No surprises.
3. Drafting and review — I prepare your documents, walk you through each one, and make sure you understand what you're signing and why.
4. Signing and funding — We execute your documents with proper Connecticut formalities. For trusts, I help you with the funding steps that many DIY plans miss — and that often cause trusts to fail when they're actually needed.
5. Follow-up — Life changes. Marriages, divorces, new children, new homes, relocations. I'll tell you at the outset when your plan should be reviewed, and I'm available when those changes happen.

Why Not Just Use an Online Template?

Online will platforms have a place, and for some very simple situations they may be adequate. But Connecticut has specific execution requirements — proper witnessing, notarization, and formalities that online templates sometimes miss. A will that isn't executed properly under Connecticut law may not be admitted to probate.

More importantly, the real value of working with an attorney isn't the template — it's the conversation. Many of the most important decisions in an estate plan (guardianship, trustee selection, how to structure inheritance for a blended family, how to protect a child with special needs) come out of a careful conversation, not a form. Those aren't decisions you can make well by clicking through a questionnaire.

Schedule a Consultation

If you've been meaning to get your estate plan in place, or if a life change — a marriage, a new baby, a move, a diagnosis — has made it urgent, let's talk. Call (860) 560-8382 or complete the contact form to schedule a consultation.

Law Office of Aakash Sharma, LLC 750 Main Street, Suite 100 Hartford, CT 06103 (860) 560-8382 [email protected]

Aakash Sharma is admitted to practice in Connecticut. This page is attorney advertising. The information provided is for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. Submitting a contact form does not create an attorney-client relationship.