Ciani v. MacGrath

• Decision Date: 08 January 2019
• Docket Number: SJC-12531
• Citation: 114 N.E.3d 52,481 Mass. 174
• Parties: Susan CIANI v. Brenda L. MACGRATH & others.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

481 Mass. 174

114 N.E.3d 52

Susan CIANI

v.Brenda L. MACGRATH & others.¹

SJC-12531

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Worcester..

Argued September 6, 2018.

Decided January 8, 2019.

Francis J. Russell, Worcester, for the plaintiff.

Maria L. Remillard for the defendants.

Present: Gants, C.J., Gaziano, Lowy, Budd, Cypher, & Kafker, JJ.

CYPHER, J.

This case presents reported questions from a judge in the Probate and Family Court Department pursuant to G. L. c. 215, § 13, in connection with the judge's denial of the parties' competing motions for summary judgment. At issue is the meaning of a particular provision of G. L. c. 191, § 15 ( § 15 ), the Commonwealth's elective share statute.

Section 15 is intended to prevent spousal disinheritance, either by inadvertence or design. See Bongaards v. Millen, 440 Mass. 10, 32, 793 N.E.2d 335 (2003). See generally Restatement (Third) of Property: Wills and Other Donative Transfers § 9.1 comment b (2003); 2 T.H. Belknap, Newhall's Settlement of Estates and Fiduciary Law in Massachusetts § 20:1 (5th ed. 1994). To that end, the statute provides a mechanism by which a dissatisfied surviving spouse can waive the provisions of a deceased spouse's will and take a statutorily prescribed share of the decedent's estate, with "the fractional portions and the nature of the interest depending on the presence or absence of issue and other kindred." Bongaards, supra at 20, 793 N.E.2d 335. For example, if the decedent left issue, then the surviving spouse is entitled to one-third of the decedent's real property and one-third of the decedent's personal property, except that

"if he or she would thus take real and personal property to an amount exceeding [$25,000] in value, he or she shall receive, in addition to that amount, only the income during his or her life of the excess of his or her share of such estate above that amount, the personal property to be held in trust and the real property vested in him or her for life" (emphases added).

G. L. c. 191, § 15. The dispute in this case centers on the nature of a surviving spouse's interest in a deceased spouse's real property where the income-only limitation applies, i.e., where a surviving spouse's shares of a deceased spouse's personal and real property, taken together, exceed $25,000 in value. We conclude that, to the extent a surviving spouse's shares of the decedent's estate exceed $25,000, § 15 reduces his or her interest in the real property from outright ownership to a life estate. As a result, we vacate the judge's denial of the parties' competing motions for summary judgment and remand for reconsideration consistent with this opinion.

Background. The following facts are undisputed. Raymond Ciani died testate in 2015. He was survived by his wife, Susan Ciani, and his four adult children from a previous marriage, one of whom is also the personal representative of his estate.

Raymond did not make provisions for Susan in his will.² Susan timely claimed her elective share of Raymond's estate in accordance with § 15. She then filed three petitions for partition in the Probate and Family Court, seeking to force the sale of three separate parcels of real property Raymond had owned at the time of his death.

In these petitions Susan represented to the court that she held a life estate in an undivided one-third of each property and that Raymond's children were tenants in common subject to her life estate. Raymond's children sought dismissal of the petitions as well as a declaration of the judge that, among other things, Susan does not have a right to petition for partition because § 15 does not afford Susan a life estate. Thereafter, they moved for summary judgment, asserting that the only contested issue was one of statutory interpretation. Susan cross-moved for summary judgment and sought a similar declaration providing that she does have a right to petition for partition because § 15does afford her a life estate in an undivided one-third of Raymond's real property.

The judge denied both motions, stating that an absence of edifying case law interpreting the specific provision of § 15 at issue precluded her from determining whether either side was entitled to judgment as a matter of law.³ The judge then reported that ruling to the Appeals Court in accordance with G. L. c. 215, § 13, and framed three additional questions:

"1. Whether a Surviving Spouse has standing to bring an action for petition for partition of real estate, when her sole interest in the subject property originates from G. L. c. 191, § 15 ?

"2. What benefits and/or obligations does the phrase ‘vested in him or her for life’ as contained in G. L. c. 191, § 15, convey to the Surviving Spouse? Specifically, is a one-third life estate in the real estate created in favor of the Surviving Spouse; and, does the Surviving Spouse have a duty to contribute to the expenses of real estate during her lifetime?

"3. Upon the sale of real estate of which the Surviving Spouse holds an interest pursuant to G. L. c. 191, § 15, what portion of the proceeds, if any, should be distributed to her free from trust?"

We took up the matter on direct appellate review.

Discussion. 1. Standard of review. This matter comes to us in an unusual posture, in that both motions for summary judgment were denied notwithstanding an undisputed factual record. Indeed, where the single issue raised was one of statutory interpretation, one of the parties was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Modica v. Sheriff of Suffolk County, 477 Mass. 102, 103, 74 N.E.3d 1233 (2017). In addition, although G. L. c. 215, § 13, permits a judge to report specific questions of law in connection with an interlocutory finding or order, the basic issue to be reported is the correctness of that finding or order.⁴ Commonwealth v. G.F., 479 Mass. 180, 189 n.9, 93 N.E.3d 816 (2018). The reported ruling in this case did not resolve the parties' issue one way or the other, leaving us little to review. This is not an appropriate use of G. L. c. 215, § 13, and we do not encourage it. Nevertheless, we will endeavor to answer the reported questions, anticipating that our discussion will provide some much-needed guidance in this area.

As an initial matter, the parties agree that § 15 affords Susan an interest in one-third of Raymond's personal property and one-third of his real property. They also agree that, taken together, Susan's shares of Raymond's property exceed $25,000 in value and that, thus, she is entitled to take $25,000 outright. The agreement ends there. Raymond's children propose that, to the extent Susan's shares of Raymond's property exceed $25,000, § 15 reduces her interest in the real property from an outright ownership interest to an interest in the income produced by the property for her life. Susan posits that, to the extent her shares of Raymond's property exceed $25,000, § 15 reduces her interest in the real property from an outright ownership interest to a life estate. In our view, the resolution of this dispute will in effect provide the answer to all the reported questions.

We interpret a statute according to the intent of the Legislature, which we ascertain from all the statute's words, "construed by the ordinary and approved usage of the language" and "considered in connection with the cause of its enactment, the mischief or imperfection to be remedied and the main object to be accomplished" (citation omitted). Harvard Crimson, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, 445 Mass. 745, 749, 840 N.E.2d 518 (2006). See generally G. L. c. 4, § 6, Third. "Ordinarily, where the language of a statute is plain and unambiguous, it is conclusive as to legislative intent" (citation omitted). Sharris v. Commonwealth, 480 Mass. 586, 594, 106 N.E.3d 661 (2018). That said, we will not adopt a literal construction of a statute if the consequences of doing so are "absurd or unreasonable," such that it could not be what the Legislature intended. Id., quoting Attorney Gen. v. School Comm. of Essex, 387 Mass. 326, 336, 439 N.E.2d 770 (1982). Where the language is not conclusive, "we may turn to extrinsic sources, including the legislative history and other statutes, for assistance in our interpretation" (quotation and citation omitted). Commonwealth v. Wynton W., 459 Mass. 745, 747, 947 N.E.2d 561 (2011). See Commonwealth v. Gernrich, 476 Mass. 249, 252, 67 N.E.3d 1196 (2017). Our principal objective is to ascertain and effectuate the intent of the Legislature in a way that is consonant with sound reason and common sense. Commonwealth v. Curran, 478 Mass. 630, 633-634, 88 N.E.3d 862 (2018).

2. Statutory language. Section 15 provides that where the decedent has left issue, the surviving spouse's statutory share is "one third of the personal and one third of the real property," except that⁵

"if he or she would thus take real and personal property to an amount exceeding [$25,000] in value, he or she shall receive, in addition to that amount, only the income during his or her life of the excess of his or her share of such estate above that amount, the personal property to be held in trust and the real property vested in him or her for life" (emphasis added).

The statute further instructs that

"the [$25,000], above given absolutely shall be paid out of that part of the personal property in which the husband or wife is interested; and if such part is insufficient the deficiency shall ... be paid from the sale or mortgage in fee ... of that part of the real property in which he or she is interested. Such sale or mortgage may be made either before or after such part is set off from the other real property of the deceased for the life of the husband or widow" (emphasis added).

The parties have suggested competing interpretations. Raymond's children maintain that the phrase "only the income during his or her life" modifies both "personal property to be held in trust" and "real property vested in him or her for life" such that we must read the...