"Estates and Probate Section | S-Corps, QSST's and ESBT's," Connecticut Bar Association | August 2026

On August 12, Day Pitney Private Client attorneys Ed Krzanowski and Oliver Ayer led a presentation titled “S Corporation Stock in Estate and Trust Administration”, hosted by the Connecticut Bar Association. The presentation examined the shareholder eligibility requirements governing S corporations and the steps fiduciaries must take when stock passes through an estate or trust. Ed and Oliver discussed the treatment of estates and trusts as eligible shareholders, the requirements and tax implications of electing small business trusts (ESBTs) and qualified subchapter S trusts (QSSTs), and the applicable election deadlines. They also addressed the consequences of transferring stock to an ineligible shareholder, available relief for missed elections or inadvertent terminations of S corporation status, and the use of S corporation savings clauses to protect the corporation’s tax status while preserving flexibility in estate and trust administration.