September Is the Smartest Month to Start Your Estate Plan, Here’s Why

As leaves begin to turn and summer schedules ease, September offers a quieter stretch worth using well. The month sits at a natural hinge point as summer activities give way to routine, and the year-end rush not yet upon us. With it comes an ideal time for unhurried conversation to address plans we keep meaning to get to.

Roughly 90 days separate Labor Day from December 31. That sounds like plenty, but it really isn’t. Here’s why.

First, an Update on That Tax Cliff

If you read our summer post on the estate tax landscape, you know families spent years bracing for the federal exemption to fall by roughly half at the end of 2025.

It did not happen. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July 2025, set the federal estate and gift tax exemption at $15 million per person beginning in 2026, with inflation indexing starting in 2027 and no expiration date built in. Because Connecticut ties its exemption to the federal figure under Connecticut General Statutes § 12-391, Connecticut sits at $15 million for 2026 as well.

Good news. Also, a reason to open your documents.

Why Relief Is Not the Same as Done

Plans drafted between 2018 and 2025 were frequently written around the assumption that the exemption would drop. Many contain formula clauses that automatically divide assets between a credit shelter trust and a marital share based on whatever the exemption happens to be at death.

A formula built for a $7 million exemption behaves very differently against a $15 million one. In some plans, that means far more passing into a trust than the couple ever intended, leaving a surviving spouse with less direct access than they were promised at the signing table.

The document has not changed. What it does has.

Connecticut Has Its Own Rules

State law adds wrinkles that federal headlines never mention:

• Connecticut is the only state in the country with its own gift tax, applied at a flat 12 percent above the exemption and unified with the estate tax, so lifetime gifts reduce what is available at death.
• Connecticut does not permit portability of the state exemption between spouses. If everything passes outright to a surviving spouse, the first spouse’s Connecticut exemption is simply gone. Bypass and credit shelter planning is how families preserve it.
• Nearly every Connecticut resident estate must file, even when nothing is owed. The nontaxable return goes to the probate court within six months of death, which is shorter than the federal nine-month window.

These figures are adjusted periodically, so confirm current amounts with the Department of Revenue Services or with us before acting on them.

Why September Beats December

Estate planning is not a transaction you complete. It is a sequence, and several links in the chain do not move on your schedule.

• The annual gift tax exclusion, $19,000 per recipient in 2026 and $38,000 for a married couple who split gifts, resets every January 1. Unused, it is gone. Checks need to clear before year-end.
• Charitable gifts must be complete by December 31 to count for the tax year.
• Funding a trust means deeds, retitled accounts, updated beneficiary designations, and sometimes an appraisal. Every one of those depends on a bank, a registry, or a third party, and every one of them slows down in late November.
• Your attorney, your accountant, and your financial advisor are all busiest in the final six weeks of the year. So is your family.

There is a softer reason too. Decisions about who raises your children, who speaks for you in a hospital, and who inherits the house deserve more than a rushed appointment between holiday obligations. Families who start in September arrive at Thanksgiving with the conversation behind them instead of hanging over the table.

A Workable 90-Day Path

• September: gather documents, list assets and their titling, and meet.
• October: review drafts, ask the uncomfortable questions, revise.
• November: sign, then retitle accounts and update beneficiary designations.
• December: complete annual exclusion and charitable gifts, and confirm everything landed.

And If Taxes Were Never Your Issue

At a $15 million exemption, the overwhelming majority of Connecticut families will owe no estate tax at all. That does not make a plan optional.

Without one, Connecticut’s intestacy rules decide who inherits. A judge, not you, names a guardian for minor children. Assets that could have transferred quietly instead move through probate on the court’s timeline. Every one of those outcomes is avoidable with documents that take weeks, not years, to put in place.

Attorney Patrick M. Prue served more than 20 years as a Connecticut probate judge before returning to practice. Our team has seen firsthand what a well-built plan spares a family, and what an outdated one costs them.

When Legal Matters, We’re Here For You

Ninety days is enough time to do this well. Sixty is tight. Thirty is a scramble. Start the conversation now and finish the year knowing it is handled. Schedule a consultation at any of our four offices in Willimantic, Brooklyn, Coventry, or Colchester, or call us at (860) 423-9231.

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Sources

Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, Estate and Gift Tax Information. portal.ct.gov/drs

Connecticut General Statutes § 12-391, Transfer of estates. Connecticut General Assembly. cga.ct.gov

Connecticut General Statutes chapter 217, Estate Tax. Connecticut General Assembly. cga.ct.gov

One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Public Law 119-21, amending Internal Revenue Code § 2010(c)(3). Signed July 4, 2025.

Internal Revenue Service, Revenue Procedure 2025-32, inflation adjustments for tax year 2026, including the annual gift tax exclusion. irs.gov

Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, Forms CT-706/709 and CT-706 NT and accompanying instructions. portal.ct.gov/drs

Connecticut General Statutes § 45a-437 et seq., distribution of intestate estates. Connecticut General Assembly. cga.ct.gov

The Prue Law Group, 5 Estate Planning Moves to Make in 2026: A Connecticut Guide. pruelawgroup.com

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The Prue Law Group has served eastern and central Connecticut since 1980, providing comprehensive business law, estate planning, probate, and elder law services. Our team’s deep local knowledge and specialized expertise help business owners protect what matters most. AI may have been used for the initial research and drafting of the article. This content is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. For guidance on your specific situation, please contact our office for a consultation.