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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7236
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 4955
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING PR OPERTY THAT IS EXEMPT FROM A
JUDGMENT CREDITOR.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 52-352b of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 2
The following property of any natural person shall be exempt: 3
[(a)] (1) Necessary apparel, bedding, foodstuffs, household furniture 4
and appliances; 5
[(b)] (2) Tools, books, instruments, farm animals and livestock feed, 6
which are necessary to the exemptioner in the course of his or her 7
occupation, profession or farming operation; 8
[(c)] (3) Burial plot for the exemptioner and his or her immediate 9
family; 10
[(d)] (4) Public assistance payments and any wages earned by a 11
public assistance recipient under an incentive earnings or similar 12 Raised Bill No. 7236
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program; 13
[(e)] (5) Health and disability insurance payments; 14
[(f)] (6) Health aids necessary to enable the exemptioner to work or 15
to sustain health; 16
[(g)] (7) Workers' compensation, Social Security, veterans and 17
unemployment benefits; 18
[(h)] (8) Court-approved payments for child support; 19
[(i)] (9) Arms and military equipment, uniforms or musical 20
instruments owned by any member of the militia or armed forces of 21
the United States; 22
[(j)] (10) One motor vehicle to the value of [three thousand five 23
hundred] seven thousand dollars, provided value shall be determined 24
as the fair market value of the motor vehicle less the amount of all liens 25
and security interests which encumber it; 26
[(k)] (11) Wedding and engagement rings; 27
[(l)] (12) Residential utility deposits for one residence, and one 28
residential security deposit; 29
[(m)] (13) Any assets or interests of an exemptioner in, or payments 30
received by the exemptioner from, a plan or arrangement described in 31
section 52-321a; 32
[(n)] (14) Alimony and support, other than child support, but only 33
to the extent that wages are exempt from execution under section 52-34
361a, as amended by this act; 35
[(o)] (15) An award under a crime reparations act; 36
[(p)] (16) All benefits allowed by any association of persons in this 37
state towards the support of any of its members incapacitated by 38
sickness or infirmity from attending to his usual business; 39 Raised Bill No. 7236
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[(q)] (17) All moneys due the exemptioner from any insurance 40
company on any insurance policy issued on exempt property, to the 41
same extent that the property was exempt; 42
[(r)] (18) Any interest of the exemptioner in any property not to 43
exceed in value one thousand dollars; 44
[(s)] (19) Any interest of the exemptioner not to exceed in value four 45
thousand dollars in any accrued dividend or interest under, or loan 46
value of, any unmatured life insurance contract owned by the 47
exemptioner under which the insured is the exemptioner or an 48
individual of whom the exemptioner is a dependent; 49
[(t)] (20) The homestead of the exemptioner to the value of [seventy-50
five thousand dollars, or, in the case of a money judgment arising out 51
of services provided at a hospital, to the value of one hundred twenty-52
five] two hundred fifty thousand dollars, provided value shall be 53
determined as the fair market value of the real property less the 54
amount of any statutory or consensual lien which encumbers it; and 55
[(u)] (21) Irrevocable transfers of money to an account held by a 56
debt adjuster licensed pursuant to sections 36a-655 to 36a-665, 57
inclusive, for the benefit of creditors of the exemptioner. 58
Sec. 2. Subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of section 12-162 of the 59
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 60
thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 61
(b) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, upon 62
the nonpayment of any property tax or any water or sanitation charges 63
when due, demand having been made therefor as prescribed by law 64
for the collection of such tax or such water or sanitation charges, an 65
alias tax warrant may be issued by the tax collector, which may be in 66
the following form: 67
"To a state marshal of the County of ...., or any constable of the 68
Town of .... Greeting: By authority of the state of Connecticut you are 69 Raised Bill No. 7236
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hereby commanded to collect forthwith from .... of .... the sum of .... 70
dollars, the same being the amount of a tax or water or sanitation 71
charges, with interest or penalty and charges which have accumulated 72
thereon, which tax was levied or which water or sanitation charges 73
were imposed by (insert name of town, city or municipality laying the 74
tax or imposing the water or sanitation charges) upon (insert the real 75
estate, personal property, or both, as the case may be,) of said .... as of 76
the .... day of ..... (In like manner insert the amount of any other 77
property tax or other water or sanitation charges which may have been 78
levied or imposed in any other year, including interest or penalty and 79
charges which have accumulated thereon). In default of payment of 80
said amount you are hereby commanded to levy for said tax or taxes 81
or such water or sanitation charges, including interest, penalty and 82
charges, hereinafter referred to as the amount due on such execution, 83
upon any goods and chattels of such person and dispose of the same as 84
the law directs, notwithstanding the provisions of [subsection (j)] 85
subdivision (10) of section 52-352b, and, after having satisfied the 86
amount due on such execution, return the surplus, if any, to him; or, 87
except as otherwise provided in section 12-162, you are to levy upon 88
the real estate of such person and sell such real property pursuant to 89
section 12-157, to pay the amount due on such execution; or you shall, 90
in accordance with the provisions of section 12-162, make demand 91
upon the main office of any financial institution indebted to such 92
person, subject to the provisions of section 52-367a or 52-367b, as if 93
judgment for the amount due on such execution had been entered, for 94
that portion of any type of deposit to the credit of or property held for 95
such person, not exceeding in total value the amount due on such 96
execution; or you are to garnishee the wages due such person from any 97
employer, in the same manner as if a wage execution therefor had been 98
entered, in accordance with section 52-361a. 99
Dated at .... this .... day of .... A.D. 20.., Tax Collector." 100
Sec. 3. Subsection (b) of section 52-321a of the general statutes is 101
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 102
October 1, 2019): 103 Raised Bill No. 7236
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(b) Nothing in this section shall impair the rights of an alternate 104
payee under a qualified domestic relations order, as defined in Section 105
414(p) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent 106
corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as from time 107
to time amended. Nothing in this section or in [subsection (m)] 108
subdivision (13) of section 52-352b, as amended by this act, shall 109
impair the rights of the state to proceed under section 52-361a to 110
recover the costs of incarceration under section 18-85a and regulations 111
adopted in accordance with section 18-85a from any federal, state or 112
municipal pension, annuity or insurance contract or similar 113
arrangement described in subdivision (5) of subsection (a) of this 114
section, provided the rights of an alternate payee under a qualified 115
domestic relations order, as defined in Section 414(p) of the Internal 116
Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal 117
revenue code of the United States, as from time to time amended, shall 118
take precedence over any such recovery. Nothing in this section or in 119
[subsection (m)] subdivision (13) of section 52-352b, as amended by 120
this act, shall impair the rights of a victim of crime to proceed under 121
section 52-361a to recover damages awarded by a court of competent 122
jurisdiction from any federal, state or municipal pension, annuity or 123
insurance contract or similar arrangement described in subdivision (5) 124
of subsection (a) of this section when such damages are the result of a 125
crime committed by a participant or beneficiary of such pension, 126
annuity or insurance contract or similar arrangement, provided the 127
rights of an alternate payee under a qualified domestic relations order, 128
as defined in Section 414(p) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or 129
any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United 130
States, as from time to time amended, shall take precedence over any 131
such recovery. 132
Sec. 4. Section 52-352a of the general statutes is repealed and the 133
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 134
[For the purposes of this section and sections 52-352b and 52-353, 135
the following terms shall have the following meanings] As used in this 136
section and sections 52-352b, as amended by this act, and 52-353: 137 Raised Bill No. 7236
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[(a)] (1) "Value" means fair market value of the exemptioner's equity 138
or unencumbered interest in the property; 139
[(b)] (2) "Necessary" means reasonably required to meet the needs of 140
the exemptioner and his or her dependents including any special 141
needs by reason of health or physical infirmity; 142
[(c)] (3) "Exempt" means, unless otherwise specified, not subject to 143
any form of process or court order for the purpose of debt collection; 144
[(d)] (4) "Exemptioner" means the natural person entitled to an 145
exemption under this section or section 52-352b, as amended by this 146
act; 147
[(e)] (5) "Homestead" means owner-occupied real property, co-op or 148
mobile manufactured home, as defined in subdivision (1) of section 21-149
64, used as a primary residence. 150
Sec. 5. Subsection (r) of section 52-367 of the general statutes is 151
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 152
October 1, 2019): 153
(r) For the purposes of this subsection, "exempt" has the same 154
meaning as provided in [subsection (c)] subdivision (3) of section 52-155
352a, as amended by this act. Funds deposited in an account that has 156
been established for the express purpose of receiving electronic direct 157
deposits of public assistance or of Title IV-D child support payments 158
from the Department of Social Services shall be exempt. 159
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 52-352b
Sec. 2 October 1, 2019 12-162(b)(1)
Sec. 3 October 1, 2019 52-321a(b)
Sec. 4 October 1, 2019 52-352a
Sec. 5 October 1, 2019 52-367(r)
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Statement of Purpose:
To increase the values of the motor vehicle and homestead exemptions.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]