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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 7236
January Session, 2019
AN ACT CONCERNING PR OPERTY THAT IS EXEMP T 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 Section 52-352b of the general statutes is repealed and the 1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
program; 13
[(e)] (5) Health and disability insurance payments; 14
[(f)] (6) Health aids necessary to enable the exemptioner to work or 15 Substitute Bill No. 7236
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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
[(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 Substitute Bill No. 7236
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[(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] one 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, except 55
that, in the case of a money judgment arising out of a claim of sexual 56
abuse or exploitation of a minor, sexual assault or other wilful, wanton 57
or reckless misconduct committed by a natural person, to the value of 58
seventy-five thousand dollars; and 59
[(u)] (21) Irrevocable transfers of money to an account held by a 60
debt adjuster licensed pursuant to sections 36a-655 to 36a-665, 61
inclusive, for the benefit of creditors of the exemptioner. 62
Sec. 2. Subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of section 12-162 of the 63
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 64
thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 65
(b) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, upon 66
the nonpayment of any property tax or any water or sanitation charges 67
when due, demand having been made therefor as prescribed by law 68
for the collection of such tax or such water or sanitation charges, an 69
alias tax warrant may be issued by the tax collector, which may be in 70
the following form: 71
"To a state marshal of the County of ...., or any constable of the 72
Town of .... Greeting: By authority of the state of Connecticut you are 73 Substitute Bill No. 7236
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hereby commanded to collect forthwith from .... of .... the sum of .... 74
dollars, the same being the amount of a tax or water or sanitation 75
charges, with interest or penalty and charges which have accumulated 76
thereon, which tax was levied or which water or sanitation charges 77
were imposed by (insert name of town, city or municipality laying the 78
tax or imposing the water or sanitation charges) upon (insert the real 79
estate, personal property, or both, as the case may be,) of said .... as of 80
the .... day of ..... (In like manner insert the amount of any other 81
property tax or other water or sanitation charges which may have been 82
levied or imposed in any other year, including interest or penalty and 83
charges which have accumulated thereon). In default of payment of 84
said amount you are hereby commanded to levy for said tax or taxes 85
or such water or sanitation charges, including interest, penalty and 86
charges, hereinafter referred to as the amount due on such execution, 87
upon any goods and chattels of such person and dispose of the same as 88
the law directs, notwithstanding the provisions of [subsection (j)] 89
subdivision (10) of section 52-352b, and, after having satisfied the 90
amount due on such execution, return the surplus, if any, to him; or, 91
except as otherwise provided in section 12-162, you are to levy upon 92
the real estate of such person and sell such real property pursuant to 93
section 12-157, to pay the amount due on such execution; or you shall, 94
in accordance with the provisions of section 12-162, make demand 95
upon the main office of any financial institution indebted to such 96
person, subject to the provisions of section 52-367a or 52-367b, as if 97
judgment for the amount due on such execution had been entered, for 98
that portion of any type of deposit to the credit of or property held for 99
such person, not exceeding in total value the amount due on such 100
execution; or you are to garnishee the wages due such person from any 101
employer, in the same manner as if a wage execution therefor had been 102
entered, in accordance with section 52-361a. 103
Dated at .... this .... day of .... A.D. 20.., Tax Collector." 104
Sec. 3. Subsection (b) of section 52-321a of the general statutes is 105
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 106 Substitute Bill No. 7236
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October 1, 2019): 107
(b) Nothing in this section shall impair the rights of an alternate 108
payee under a qualified domestic relations order, as defined in Section 109
414(p) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent 110
corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as from time 111
to time amended. Nothing in this section or in [subsection (m)] 112
subdivision (13) of section 52-352b, as amended by this act, shall 113
impair the rights of the state to proceed under section 52-361a to 114
recover the costs of incarceration under section 18-85a and regulations 115
adopted in accordance with section 18-85a from any federal, state or 116
municipal pension, annuity or insurance contract or similar 117
arrangement described in subdivision (5) of subsection (a) of this 118
section, provided the rights of an alternate payee under a qualified 119
domestic relations order, as defined in Section 414(p) of the Internal 120
Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal 121
revenue code of the United States, as from time to time amended, shall 122
take precedence over any such recovery. Nothing in this section or in 123
[subsection (m)] subdivision (13) of section 52-352b, as amended by 124
this act, shall impair the rights of a victim of crime to proceed under 125
section 52-361a to recover damages awarded by a court of competent 126
jurisdiction from any federal, state or municipal pension, annuity or 127
insurance contract or similar arrangement described in subdivision (5) 128
of subsection (a) of this section when such damages are the result of a 129
crime committed by a participant or beneficiary of such pension, 130
annuity or insurance contract or similar arrangement, provided the 131
rights of an alternate payee under a qualified domestic relations order, 132
as defined in Section 414(p) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or 133
any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United 134
States, as from time to time amended, shall take precedence over any 135
such recovery. 136
Sec. 4. Section 52-352a of the general statutes is repealed and the 137
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 138
[For the purposes of this section and sections 52-352b and 52-353, 139 Substitute Bill No. 7236
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the following terms shall have the following meanings] As used in this 140
section and sections 52-352b, as amended by this act, and 52-353: 141
[(a)] (1) "Value" means fair market value of the exemptioner's equity 142
or unencumbered interest in the property; 143
[(b)] (2) "Necessary" means reasonably required to meet the needs of 144
the exemptioner and his or her dependents including any special 145
needs by reason of health or physical infirmity; 146
[(c)] (3) "Exempt" means, unless otherwise specified, not subject to 147
any form of process or court order for the purpose of debt collection; 148
[(d)] (4) "Exemptioner" means the natural person entitled to an 149
exemption under this section or section 52-352b, as amended by this 150
act; 151
[(e)] (5) "Homestead" means owner-occupied real property, co-op or 152
mobile manufactured home, as defined in subdivision (1) of section 21-153
64, used as a primary residence. 154
Sec. 5. Subsection (r) of section 52-367b of the general statutes is 155
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 156
October 1, 2019): 157
(r) For the purposes of this subsection, "exempt" has the same 158
meaning as provided in [subsection (c)] subdivision (3) of section 52-159
352a, as amended by this act. Funds deposited in an account that has 160
been established for the express purpose of receiving electronic direct 161
deposits of public assistance or of Title IV-D child support payments 162
from the Department of Social Services shall be exempt. 163
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) Substitute Bill No. 7236
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Sec. 4 October 1, 2019 52-352a
Sec. 5 October 1, 2019 52-367b(r)
JUD Joint Favorable Subst.