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General Assembly Bill No. 455
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 3418
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING REVOCATION BY DISSOLUTION OF
MARRIAGE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2022) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Disposition or appointment of property" includes a transfer of an 2
item of property or any other benefit to a beneficiary designated in a 3
governing instrument; 4
(2) "Dissolution of marriage" means any divorce or annulment, or any 5
dissolution or declaration of invalidity of a marriage that would exclude 6
the spouse as a surviving spouse. "Dissolution of marriage" does not 7
include a decree of legal separation that does not terminate an 8
individual's status as a spouse; 9
(3) "Divorced individual" means an individual whose marriage has 10
been dissolved; 11
(4) "Former spouse" means a person whose marriage to the divorced 12
individual resulted in a dissolution of marriage; 13 Raised Bill No. 455
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(5) "Governing instrument" includes, but is not limited to, (A) a 14
testamentary instrument; trust agreement; insurance or annuity policy; 15
savings, retirement, transfer on death, pension, deferred compensation, 16
death benefit, stock bonus or profit-sharing plan, account, arrangement, 17
system or trust; agreement with a bank, brokerage firm or investment 18
company; registration of securities in beneficiary form; other similar 19
benefit plan; or a dispositive, appointive or nominative instrument of 20
any similar type executed by the divorced individual prior to the date 21
of dissolution of the individual's marriage from the former spouse. 22
"Governing instrument" does not include a will, a court order, including 23
a decree of dissolution of marriage, or a contract relating to the division 24
of property made between the divorced individuals prior to or after the 25
date of dissolution of marriage; 26
(6) "Payor" means a trustee, insurer, business entity, employer, 27
government, governmental agency or subdivision, or any other person 28
authorized or obligated by law or a governing instrument to make 29
payments; 30
(7) "Relative of the divorced individual's former spouse" means an 31
individual who is related to the divorced individual's former spouse by 32
blood, adoption or affinity and who, after the divorce or annulment, is 33
not related to the divorced individual by blood, adoption or affinity; and 34
(8) "Revocable," with respect to a disposition, appointment, provision 35
or nomination, means one under which the divorced individual, at the 36
time of the divorce or annulment, was empowered, by law or under the 37
governing instrument, to cancel the designation in favor of the former 38
spouse or former spouse's relative, whether or not the divorced 39
individual was then empowered to designate himself or herself in place 40
of the former spouse's relative and whether or not the divorced 41
individual then had the capacity to exercise the power. 42
(b) Except as provided by the express terms of a governing 43
instrument, a dissolution of marriage: 44
(1) Revokes any revocable: 45 Raised Bill No. 455
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(A) Disposition or appointment of property in a governing 46
instrument made by a divorced individual to or for the benefit of the 47
divorced individual's former spouse or a relative of the divorced 48
individual's former spouse; 49
(B) Provision in a governing instrument conferring a general or 50
nongeneral power of appointment on a former spouse or on a relative 51
of an individual's former spouse; and 52
(C) Nomination in a governing instrument, nominating an 53
individual's former spouse or a relative of the individual's former 54
spouse to serve in any fiduciary or representative capacity, including as 55
a personal representative, executor, trustee, conservator, agent or 56
guardian; and 57
(2) Severs the interests of the former spouses in property held by the 58
former spouses on the date of the dissolution of marriage as joint tenants 59
with the right of survivorship, transforming the interests of the former 60
spouses into equal tenancies in common. 61
(c) The provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall only apply to: 62
(1) A disposition or appointment of property to a former spouse or a 63
relative of an individual's former spouse, made prior to the date of 64
dissolution of marriage; and (2) a provision in a governing instrument 65
conferring a general or nongeneral power of appointment upon, or a 66
nomination in a governing instrument to serve in any fiduciary or 67
representative capacity on behalf of, a former spouse or a relative of an 68
individual's former spouse, made prior to the date of dissolution of 69
marriage. 70
(d) (1) Any provisions of a governing instrument shall be given effect 71
as if the former spouse and relatives of the former spouse died 72
immediately before the date of dissolution of marriage. 73
(2) A severance under subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of this section 74
does not affect any third-party interest in property acquired for value in 75
good faith reliance on an apparent title by survivorship in the survivor 76 Raised Bill No. 455
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of the former spouses unless a writing declaring the severance has been 77
noted, registered, filed or recorded in records appropriate to the kind 78
and location of the property which are relied upon, in the ordinary 79
course of transactions involving such property, as evidence of 80
ownership. 81
(e) Provisions of a governing instrument revoked solely by this 82
section are revived by the divorced individual's remarriage to the 83
former spouse or by a nullification of the dissolution of marriage. 84
(f) No change of circumstances other than the circumstances 85
described in this section and section 45a- 447 of the general statutes 86
effect a revocation. 87
(g) (1) A payor or other third party is not liable for having made a 88
payment or transferred an item of property or any other benefit to a 89
beneficiary designated in a governing instrument affected by a 90
dissolution of marriage or remarriage, or for having taken any other 91
action in good faith reliance on the validity of the governing instrument, 92
before the payor or other third party received written notice of the 93
dissolution of marriage or remarriage. A payor or other third party is 94
liable for a payment made or other action taken after the payor or other 95
third party received written notice of a claimed forfeiture or revocation 96
under this section. 97
(2) Written notice of the dissolution of marriage or remarriage under 98
subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be delivered to the payor's or 99
other third party's home office or principal address, by registered or 100
certified mail, return receipt requested. Upon receipt of such written 101
notice of the dissolution of marriage or remarriage, a payor or other 102
third party may pay any amount owed or transfer or deposit any item 103
of property held by it to or with the court having jurisdiction of the 104
probate proceedings relating to the decedent's estate or, if no 105
proceedings have been commenced, to or with the court having 106
jurisdiction of probate proceedings relating to decedents' estates located 107
in the probate district of the decedent's residence. The Probate Court 108 Raised Bill No. 455
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shall hold the funds or item of property and, upon its determination 109
under this section, order disbursement or transfer in accordance with 110
the determination. Payments, transfers or deposits made to or with the 111
Probate Court shall discharge the payor or other third party from all 112
claims for the value of amounts paid to the Probate Court, or items of 113
property transferred to or deposited with the Probate Court. 114
(h) A person who purchases property from a former spouse, relative 115
of a former spouse or any other person for value and without notice, or 116
who received from a former spouse, relative of a former spouse or any 117
other person a payment, other item of property or benefit in partial or 118
full satisfaction of a legally enforceable obligation, is not (1) obligated 119
under this section to return the payment, item of property or benefit, or 120
(2) liable under this section for the amount of the payment or the value 121
of the item of property or benefit. Except, as may preempted by federal 122
law, a former spouse, relative of a former spouse or other person who, 123
not for value, received a payment, item of property or any other benefit 124
to which the person is not entitled under this section, (A) shall return 125
the payment, item of property or benefit, and (B) is personally liable for 126
the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property or 127
benefit, to the person who is entitled to such payment, property or 128
benefit under this section. 129
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2022 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To revoke certain beneficiary designations or testamentary transfers
passing to a former spouse following a dissolution of marriage.
[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.]