Property of Spouses in Connecticut

Property of Spouses - 1

Connecticut Judicial Branch

Law Libraries

A Guide to Resources in the Law Library

Table of Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................... 3

Section 1: Married Women's Act in Connecticut .................................................... 4

Section 2: Property Rights of Spouses ................................................................ 7

Table 1: Joint Duty of Spouses to Support Family ........................................... 11

Table 2: Superior Court Cases About the Debt of Spouses ............................... 12

Prepared by Connecticut Judicial Branch, Superior Court Operations,

Judge Support Services, Law Library Services Unit

lawlibrarians@jud.ct.gov

2023 Edition

Property of Spouses - 2

These guides are provided with the understanding that they represent only a

beginning to research. It is the responsibility of the person doing legal research to

come to his or her own conclusions about the authoritativeness, reliability, validity,

and currency of any resource cited in this research guide.

View our other research guides at

https://jud.ct.gov/lawlib/selfguides.htm

This guide links to advance release opinions on the Connecticut Judicial Branch website

and to case law hosted on Google Scholar and Harvard’s Case Law Access Project.

The online versions are for informational purposes only.

References to online legal research databases refer to in-library use of these

databases. Remote access is not available.

Connecticut Judicial Branch Website Policies and Disclaimers

https://www.jud.ct.gov/policies.htm

Treated elsewhere in our Legal Research Guides:

• Enforcing Money Judgments

• Equitable Distribution of Marital Property

• Premarital (Antenuptial) and Postnuptial Agreements in Connecticut

• Breach of Promise to Marry and Return of Engagement Ring and Courtship Gifts

• Rights of Surviving Spouse

Property of Spouses - 3

Introduction

A Guide to Resources in the Law Library

• “A spouse shall not acquire by marriage any right to or interest in any property

held by the other spouse before or acquired after such marriage, except as to the

share of the survivor in the property as provided by sections 45a-436 and 45a-

437. Each spouse shall have power to make contracts with the other spouse or

with third persons, to convey to the other spouse or to third persons his or her

real and personal estate and to receive conveyances of real and personal estate

from the other spouse or from third persons as if unmarried. Each spouse may

bring suit in his or her own name upon contracts or for torts and he or she may

be sued for a breach of contract or for a tort; and his or her property, except

such property as is exempt by law, may be taken on attachment and execution,

but shall not be taken for the debts of the other spouse, except as provided in

section 46b-37. Neither spouse shall be liable for the debts of the other spouse

contracted before marriage, nor upon the other spouse's contracts made after

marriage, except as provided in said section.” Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-36 (2023).

• See Also: Table 1 - Joint Duty of Spouses to Support Family

Property of Spouses - 4

Section 1: Married Women's Act in Connecticut

A Guide to Resources in the Law Library

SCOPE:

Bibliographic sources relating to the history and effect of the

Married Women’s Act of 1877 in Connecticut.

DEFINITIONS:

• “An enhancement of the wife’s legal status had been

brought about by the enactment of the Married Women’s

Act in 1877. See Public Acts 1877, c. 114 (now General

Statutes 46b-36). This legislation enabled a married

woman to control her own property and to sue and be

sued in the

same manner as her husband.” Yale

University S

chool of Medicine v. Collier

, 206 Conn. 31, 34,

536 A.2d 588

(1988).

• “We think that in enacting this law the State adopted a

fundamental change of public policy . . . that in every

marriage contracted since April 20th, 1877, husband and

wife alike retain the capacity of owning, acquiring and

disposing of property, which belongs to unmarried

persons; that the power of contracting incident to such

capacity, necessarily follows; and that the legal status of

husband and wife involves the capacity to contract with

each other and with others. Under the law of status which

the act of 1877 abolished, the wife could not contract with

her husband or any one else, because her legal identity

and capacity of owning property attached to the husband,

and for the same reason the husband could not contract

with his

wife.” Mathewson v. Mathewson, 79 Conn. 23,

35, 63 A. 285

(1906).

STATUTES:

• Conn. Gen. Stat. (2023)

Chapter 815e. Marriage

§ 46b-36. Property rights of spouse not affected by

marriage.

§ 46b-37. Joint duty of spouses to support family.

Liability for purchases and certain expenses.

Abandonment.

HISTORY:

• Public Act 1877, Chapter 114. An Act in Alteration of the

Act Concerning Domestic Relations.

CASES:

• Jewish Home for the Aged v. Nuterangelo, Superior Court,

Judicial District of New Haven at New Haven, No. CV04-

0489608-S (December 10, 2004) (38 Conn. L. Rptr. 408)

(2004 Conn. Super. Lexis 3709) (2004 WL 3130225).

“The problem with this count is that the common-law right

of action known as the doctrine of necessaries could only

be asserted against husbands. Yale University School of

Medicine v. Scianna, 45 Conn. Supp. 84, 19 Conn. L. Rptr.

77 (1997). This was because, at common-law, a married

You can visit your

local law library or

search the most

recent statutes and

public acts on the

Connecticut General

Assembly website.

Property of Spouses - 5

woman had no property and therefore could make no

contracts. Id., at 1W. Blackstone, Commentaries on the

Laws of England (1807) p. 442. Indeed, it was this gender

bias in the common law that led to the promulgation of

the Married Women’s Act of 1877. Public Acts 1877, c.

114. This statute created a new cause of action making

spouses liable for the cost of any article purchased by

either that went to the support of the family. Id., § 2. This

statutory remedy was, however, independent of the

common-law doctrine of necessaries. Buckingham v.

Hurd, 52 Conn. 404, 406 (1884). The point is that the

common-law duty of support applied only to husbands.”

• Wendt v. Wendt, 59 Conn. App. 656, 687-688, 757 A.2d

1225, 1245 (2000). “As the court in this case rightly

stated: ‘The plaintiff would have the decision in this case

take its place along with the great events making changes

in women’s rights: the 1848 Seneca Falls [New York]

Convention; the Married Women’s Act of 1877 in

Connecticut [Public Acts 1877, c. 114, now General

Statutes § 46b-36]; the nineteenth amendment to the

United States Constitution, ratified in Connecticut on

September 14 and 20, 1920; and the ERA to the

Connecticut constitution, adopted November 27, 1974.

This historical progression, while compelling, does not

warrant the results the plaintiff seeks. The plaintiff seeks,

by judicial fiat, to declare unconstitutional, statutes in

order to correct an economic disorder.’ We agree with the

court and conclude that the plaintiff has not successfully

proven a violation of the ERA.”

ENCYCLOPEDIAS:

• 41 Am Jur 2d Husband and Wife, Thomson West, 2015

(also available on Westlaw).

I. Introduction

Marital and Family Relationships

§ 3. Statutory supersession of common-law

status of married women

III. Property Rights and Interests

§ 11. Right to hold property separately

§ 20. Prevalence today; effect of married women’s

acts

• 41 C.J.S. Husband and Wife, Thomson West, 2014 (also

available on Westlaw).

II. Mutual Rights, Duties, and Liabilities of Spouses

§ 4. Separate legal identities; effect of married

women’s acts

§ 10. Right to own separate property

§ 12. Rights of creditors in separate property of

debtor’s spouse

§ 13. What constitutes separate property

Once you have

identified useful

cases, it is important

to update the cases

before you rely on

them. Updating case

law means checking

to see if the cases

are still good law.

You can contact your

local law librarian to

learn about the tools

available to you to

update cases.

Encyclopedias and

ALRs are available in

print at some law

library locations and

accessible online at

all law library

locations.

Online databases are

available for

in-library use.

Remote access is not

available.

Property of Spouses - 6

TEXTS &

TREATISES:

• 7 Connecticut Practice Series. Family Law and Practice

with Forms, by Arnold H. Rutkin et al., Thomson West,

2010, with 2022-2023 supplement (also available on

Westlaw).

Chapter 7. Property Rights of Husband and Wife

§ 7.1. Married Women’s Property Act

• 5 Family Law and Practice, by Arnold H. Rutkin et al.,

Matthew Bender, 1985, with 2023 supplement (also

available on Lexis Advance).

Chapter 62. Nondivorce Support and Property Rights

§ 62.01. Nondivorce Support and Property Rights

[2] Property Rights During Marriage

[b] The “feme” sole estate and married

women’s property acts

[ii] The Married Women’s Property Acts

Each of our law

libraries own the

Connecticut treatises

cited. You can

our catalog to

determine which of

our law libraries own

the other treatises

cited or to search for

more treatises.

References to online

databases refer to

in-library use of

these databases.

Remote access is not

available.

Property of Spouses - 7

Section 2: Property Rights of Spouses

A Guide to Resources in the Law Library

SCOPE:

Bibliographic sources relating to the property rights of each

spouse in an ongoing marriage.

SEE ALSO:

• Alimony Research Guide: § 1. Duty to Support Spouse

• Child Support Research Guide: § 1. Duty to Support

Children

DEFINITIONS:

• “A spouse shall not acquire by marriage any right to or

interest in any property held by the other spouse before

or acquired after such marriage, except as to the share of

the survivor in the property as provided by sections 45a-

436 and 45a-437. Each spouse shall have power to make

contracts with the other spouse or with third persons, to

convey to the other spouse or to third persons his or her

real and personal estate and to receive conveyances of

real and personal estate from the other spouse or from

third persons as if unmarried. Each spouse may bring suit

in his or her own name upon contracts or for torts and he

or she may be sued for a breach of contract or for a tort;

and his or her property, except such property as is

exempt by law, may be taken on attachment and

execution, but shall not be taken for the debts of the

other spouse, except as provided in section 46b-37.

Neither spouse shall be liable for the debts of the other

spouse contracted before marriage, nor upon the other

spouse’s contracts made after marriage, except as

provided in said section.” Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-36

(2023).

• “It is clear that the statute [Conn. Gen. Stats. § 46b-10,

now § 46b-37] imposes a joint liability upon the husband

and the wife regardless of which one of them made the

contract for the services.” Maislin v. Lawton, 30 Conn.

Supp. 593, 594, 314 A.2d 783, 784 (1973).

STATUTES:

• Conn. Gen. Stat. (2023)

Chapter 815e. Marriage

§ 46b-36. Property rights of spouse not affected by

marriage.

§ 46b-37. Joint duty of spouses to support family.

Liability for purchases and certain expenses.

Abandonment.

Chapter 802h. Protected Persons and Their Property

§ 45a-631. Limitation on receipt or use of minor’s

property by parent, guardian or spouse. Release.

You can visit your

local law library or

search the most

recent statutes and

public acts on the

Connecticut General

Assembly website to

confirm that you are

using the most up-

to-date statutes.

Property of Spouses - 8

REGULATIONS:

• Conn. Agencies Regs. Department of Revenue Services.

Title 12 – Taxation.

§ 12-702(c)(1)-2. Relief of spouse from Connecticut

income tax liability on joint Connecticut income tax

return.

CASES:

• Lawrence v. Gude, 216 Conn. App. 624, 630-31, 285 A.3d

1198 (2022). “The defendants' argument that a spouse

cannot be liable to a third party under § 46b-37 for rent

owed when the spouse is not a signatory to the leasehold

agreement is contrary to the plain language of § 46b-37

(b) (3) and analogous appellate precedent interpreting

other subdivisions of § 46b-37 (b) vis-à-vis third-party

claims for payment.”

• Wilton Meadows Ltd. Partnership v. Coratolo, 299 Conn.

819, 831-832, 14 A. 3d 982, 989 (2011). “[E]xcluding

nursing home expenses from spousal liability under § 46b-

37 (b) creates ‘a harmonious and consistent body of law,’

and one that ‘makes sense within the overall legislative

scheme.’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Sokaitis v.

Bakaysa, supra, 293 Conn. at 23, 975 A.2d 51. In so

doing, we also conclude that the trial court properly

determined that §46b-37 (b)(4) does not include services

or general expenses associated with nursing home care,

including food and medicine consumed by nursing home

residents.”

• Utzler v. Braca, 115 Conn. App. 261, 271, 972 A. 2d 743,

751 (2009). “The plaintiff has, however, cited no authority

for the proposition that the law presumes that one spouse

has been unjustly enriched by the other spouse’s

misappropriation of a third person’s property. Indeed,

enactment of chapter 114 of the Public Acts of 1877, p.

211 (now General Statutes § 46b-36) entitled ‘An Act in

Alteration of the Act concerning Domestic Relations,’ but

commonly called the Married Women’s Act, makes such an

argument untenable.”

• North v. North, 183 Conn. 35, 39-40, 438 A.2d 807, 810

(1981). “Although a party may have received property

through inheritance, assigning such property to the other

spouse does not violate § 46b-36.”

• Botticello v. Stefanovicz, 177 Conn. 22, 27, 411 A.2d 16,

19 (1979). “Moreover, the fact that one spouse tends more

to business matters than the other does not, absent other

evidence of agreement or authorization, constitute the

delegation of power as to an agent.”

Once you have

identified useful

cases, it is important

to update the cases

before you rely on

them. Updating case

law means checking

to see if the cases

are still good law.

You can contact your

local law librarian to

learn about the tools

available to you to

update cases.

You can visit your

local law library or

browse the

Connecticut

eRegulations System

on the Secretary of

the State website to

check if a regulation

has been updated.

Property of Spouses - 9

• Cherniack v. Home National Bank & Trust Co., 151 Conn.

367, 370, 198 A.2d 58, 59 (1964). “It is important to bear

in mind in this connection that under Connecticut law

neither husband nor wife acquires, by virtue of the

marriage, any interest in the real or personal property of

the other during that other’s lifetime.”

• Schaefer v. Schaefer, 9 Conn. Supp. 49, 61 (1941). “The

broad claim of the defendant as regards all of the property

is that there existed a verbal contract between him and his

wife that there should be a partnership between him and

that all property that came into the possession of either

during their marriage should be the so-called community

property of both and that each should own an undivided

one-half interest therein. The evidence does not justify a

finding that there was any such general express

agreement between them.”

• Wagner v. Mutual Life Insurance Co., 88 Conn. 536, 542,

91 A. 1012, 1014 (1914). “From the finding it appears that

Mrs. Wagner always retained the possession and control

of, and collected the income from, her personal property

free from the domination and supervision of her husband;

and that as to the proceeds of the securities sold and

loaned him, and all other loans made, he agreed to repay

the same with interest. It is also found that Mr. Wagner

always treated the moneys loaned him by Mrs. Wagner,

and all of her securities, as her sole and separate estate.”

DIGESTS:

• ALR Digest: Husband and Wife

ENCYCLOPEDIAS:

• 41 Am Jur 2d Husband and Wife, Thomson West, 2015

(also available on Westlaw).

III. Property Rights and Interests

§§ 11-17. Separately held property

VI. Transactions Between Spouses

§§ 76-80. Transfers of separate property between

spouses

§§ 138-140. Liability for debts of other spouse

• 41 C.J.S. Husband and Wife, Thomson West, 2014 (also

available on Westlaw).

II. Mutual Rights, Duties, and Liabilities of Spouses

§§ 10-59. Property

§ 66. Duty of support, generally

§ 72. Doctrine of necessaries

TEXTS &

TREATISES:

• 7 Connecticut Practice Series. Family Law and Practice

with Forms, by Arnold H. Rutkin et al., Thomson West

2010, with 2022-2023 supplement (also available on

Westlaw).

Chapter 7. Property Rights of Husband and Wife

§ 7.2 Property rights of married persons

§ 7.3 Authority of spouses to act for each other

Once you have

identified useful

cases, it is important

to update the cases

before you rely on

them. Updating case

law means checking

to see if the cases

are still good law.

You can contact your

local law librarian to

learn about the tools

available to you to

update cases.

Encyclopedias and

ALRs are available in

print at some law

library locations and

accessible online at

all law library

locations.

Online databases are

available for

in-library use.

Remote access is not

available.

Property of Spouses - 10

§ 7.4 Property acquired during the marriage

§ 7.5 Partition

Each of our law

libraries own the

Connecticut treatises

cited.

References to online

databases refer to

in-library use of

these databases.

Property of Spouses - 11

Table 1: Joint Duty of Spouses to Support Family

Joint Duty of Spouses to Support Family

Conn. Gen. Stats. § 46b-37 (2023)

Purchases by

spouse

(a) Any purchase made by either a husband or wife in his or her

own name shall be presumed, in the absence of notice to the

contrary, to be made by him or her as an individual and he or

she shall be liable for the purchase.

Necessities

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this

section, it shall be the joint duty of each spouse to support his

or her family, and both shall be liable for:

(1) The reasonable and necessary services of a physician or

dentist;

(2) hospital expenses rendered the husband or wife or minor

child while residing in the family of his or her parents;

(3) the rental of any dwelling unit actually occupied by the

husband and wife as a residence and reasonably necessary

to them for that purpose; and

(4) any article purchased by either which has in fact gone to

the support of the family, or for the joint benefit of both.

Abandoned

spouse

section, a spouse who abandons his or her spouse without cause

shall be liable for the reasonable support of such other spouse

while abandoned.

Separation

(d) No action may be maintained against either spouse under

the provisions of this section, either during or after any period of

separation from the other spouse, for any liability incurred by

the other spouse during the separation, if, during the separation

the spouse who is liable for support of the other spouse has

provided the other spouse with reasonable support.

Abandonment

without cause

(e) Abandonment without cause by a spouse shall be a defense

to any liability pursuant to the provisions of subdivisions (1) to

(4), inclusive, of subsection (b) of this section for expenses

incurred by and for the benefit of such spouse. Nothing in this

subsection shall affect the duty of a parent to support his or her

minor child.

Once you have identified useful cases, it is important to update the cases before you rely on them.

Updating case law means checking to see if the cases are still good law. You can contact your local law

librarian to learn about the tools available to you to update cases.

Property of Spouses - 12

Table 2: Superior Court Cases About the Debt of Spouses

Superior Court Cases About the Debt of Spouses

Raccone v.

Bringnole,

Superior Court,

Judicial District of

Hartford at

Hartford, No.

CV05-4013688-S

(Jan. 27, 2006)

(40 Conn. L. Rptr.

652) (2006 WL

360883) (2006

Conn. Super.

LEXIS 301).

“[…] Raccone was never a joint owner of the home. Only Nancy

Raccone's name ever appeared in the chain of title. Although

Raccone completed work that improved the value of the home,

and although the value of the improvements can be ascertained,

an ascertainable value of improvements made over a ten-year

period does not equate to the value of any sweat equity to

which Raccone might or might not assert a claim or to which

Raccone might or might not be found to be entitled. Courts in

Connecticut have held that ‘those interests that are ‘so

indeterminate, uncertain or contingent that [they are] incapable

of being appraised or sold with fairness,’ are excluded from the

operation of [General Statutes § 52-380a].’ Id., citing

Humphrey v. Gerard, 83 Conn. 346, 356, 77 A. 65 (1910). That

is the case here. Where the value of Raccone's interest, if any,

is inchoate at best and has not been determined, and cannot

fairly be determined, it is not subject to lien or attachment.”

(p. 5)

---

“At no time did title of the house pass to or from Raccone in

order to avoid satisfying the judgment against Raccone or any

other debt or for any other reason.” (p. 9)

Constantini v.

Willinger,

Willinger & Bucci,

Superior Court,

Judicial District of

Fairfield, No.

CV01-0381444-S

(Aug. 13, 2001)

(2001 WL

1044624) (2001

Conn. Super.

LEXIS 2371)

“Upon the application of the plaintiff to discharge a lien placed

by the defendant upon property known as 26 Old Field Road,

Trumbull, in order to secure payment on a judgment against the

plaintiff's former spouse, the court finds that at no time did the

former spouse have legal or equitable title to said property

which from the time of purchase was solely in the name of the

plaintiff.” (p. 1)

---

“Therefore, it is the order of the court that said judgment lien in

the amount of $6,862.08 dated January 28, 1999, and recorded

in Volume 995 at page 230 of the Trumbull land records be and

is hereby released.” (p. 1)

Cohen v. Beharry,

Superior Court,

Judicial District of

Hartford-New

Britain, No. CV90-

0386103-S (Nov.

21, 2000) (2000

WL 1868259)

(2000 Conn.

Super. LEXIS

3341).

“With respect to the garnishment of the plaintiff's joint bank

account with his wife, only the plaintiff's interest in that account

is subject to garnishment because the judgment runs solely

against the plaintiff. His wife was never a party to the action in

which the judgment was rendered. Cavanaugh and Beharry,

however, cannot be deprived of their right to garnish or attach

any assets of the plaintiff held by the bank simply because his

assets are mingled with those of his wife in a joint account.” (p.

Once you have identified useful cases, it is important to update the cases before you rely on them.

Updating case law means checking to see if the cases are still good law. You can contact your local law

librarian to learn about the tools available to you to update cases.