For the typical estate-planning workflow — moving a Connecticut residence into a client's revocable trust — the drafting checklist is:
- Confirm vesting. Pull the most recent vested deed from the town land records. Connecticut recognizes both joint tenancy with right of survivorship and tenancy in common; sole and several ownership is the default for a single grantor.
- Confirm the legal description. Copy it verbatim from the prior vested deed, including all metes-and-bounds, lot references, and "being the same premises" recitals. Attach as Schedule A if lengthy.
- Use a quitclaim deed for the funding transfer. Warranty covenants from grantor to themselves-as-trustee are pointless and expose the client to title claims they should not be making.
- Recite the trust correctly. Grantee should read, for example: "John Q. Smith, Trustee of the John Q. Smith Revocable Trust dated January 15, 2024, and any amendments thereto." Add the trustee's mailing address per § 47-5(b).
- Consider whether a Certification of Trust is needed. Some Connecticut town clerks and most title insurers will want a CGS § 45a-499jjj certification recorded contemporaneously, especially when the trust will later sell to a third party.
- Verify mortgage due-on-sale implications. Federal Garn-St. Germain protection covers most transfers of an owner-occupied residence to the owner's revocable trust, but the protection is not absolute for non-owner-occupied or commercial property.
- File OP-236 claiming the no-consideration / revocable-trust exemption. Pay any recording fees. Confirm both the deed and the OP-236 are accepted before closing the file.
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