Faiola v. Faiola

• Decision Date: 04 January 1968
• Citation: 238 A.2d 405,156 Conn. 12
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: Bruno FAIOLA v. Guido J. FAIOLA et al.

Page 405

238 A.2d 405

156 Conn. 12

Bruno FAIOLA v. Guido J. FAIOLA et al.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Jan. 4, 1968.

Henry D. Marcus, Hartford, with whom, on the brief, was Morris W. Fuhr, Hartford, for appellant (plaintiff).

Bourke G. Spellacy, Hartford, with whom were Thomas J. Shortell, Hartford, and, on the brief, Joseph Adinolfi, Jr., and Peter G. Kelly, Hartford, for appellees (defendants).

Before ALCORN, HOUSE, THIM, RYAN and COVELLO, JJ.

HOUSE, Justice.

This action arose out of a family dispute over the ownership of, and the distribution of rentals received from, a parcel of land with the buildings thereon located in Farmington. The plaintiff brought suit against his father, Venanzio, and his three brothers, Guido, Vincent and Armando. Briefly stated, he claims that he, Guido and Armando together owned the property in 1951, at which time they conveyed it by quitclaim deed to their father, Venanzio, with the intention and agreement that the deed would vest in the grantee only a life estate and that the property would revert to them on his death if not sooner reconveyed upon request; that in 1959, Venanzio wrongfully conveyed the property to the defendants Guido and Vincent; that, in 1961, the plaintiff was fraudulently induced to enter into an agreement with his three brothers which provided that Vincent and Guido would continue to hold title and that, if the property should be sold or rented, the net monthly rental or sale proceeds would be divided equally among such of the four brothers as should be living at the time of such distribution; and that the plaintiff has never received any distribution or accounting. On the basis of the allegations thus briefly summarized, the plaintiff sought various forms of relief: an accounting; the appointment of a receiver of rents; a judgment voiding the 1961 agreement; an order that the defendants reconvey to the plaintiff his rightful title and interest in the land; an order that the defendants produce the 1961 agreement and deliver it up to be canceled; a judgment determining the rights in and to the land and settling the title thereto; a partition and sale of the land; $100,000 damages; and such further equitable relief as the court should deem necessary.

The defendants pleaded by way of a general denial and the special defenses of laches and estoppel. They did not comply with the directive of § 47-31 of the General Statutes, which requires each defendant in an action to quiet title to state in his answer whether or not he claims any interest in the property and, if so, the nature and extent of the interest or estate claimed and the manner in which the interest claimed was derived. We cannot ascertain whether the failure to comply was a result of the confused state of the pleadings or the plaintiff's multifarious claims for relief. The court also did not comply with the further statutory directive of § 47-31 of the General Statutes that it 'render judgment determining the questions and disputes and quieting and settling the title to such property.' See Marquis v. Drost, 155 Conn. 327, 330, 231 A.2d 527; Lake Garda Improvement Assn. v. Battistoni, 155 Conn. 287, 293, 231 A.2d 276; Practice Book, Form No. 512. The judgment simply found the issues for the defendants. As a result of the plaintiff's motion for a special finding pursuant to § 52-226 of the General Statutes, however, the record contains a statement of the material facts on which the judgment was based. This special finding became a part of the record and is an incident to the judgment. Carvette v. Fidelity & Deposit Co., 152 Conn. 697, 698, 204 A.2d 409; Maltbie, Conn.App.Proc. § 151. It discloses the court's conclusion that title to the subject property was vested solely in Vincent and Guido and that the 1961 agreement executed by the four brothers was both invalid and ineffective to give the plaintiff any legal or equitable interest in the land.

The appeal presents two major questions among the many assignments of error claimed by the plaintiff: (1) Did the court properly conclude that the 1951 quitclaim deed was valid and conveyed to Venanzio all the interest which the grantors had in the land so that his 1959 deed to Guido and Vincent vested title to the land in them? (2) Did the court properly conclude that the 1961 agreement between the four brothers was both invalid by reason of its defective execution and ineffective to create any interest in the land, legal or equitable, in the plaintiff? We will discuss them in that order.

The portion of the finding relevant to the 1951 deed is not subject to any material correction. There was conflicting testimony, and the court found the testimony of the defendants to be more credible than that of the plaintiff. It is for the trial court to determine the credibility of witnesses. We do not retry facts or pass upon questions of credibility. Krattenstein v. G. Fox & Co., 155 Conn. --, 236 A.2d 446; Romaniello v. Dyna Distributors, Inc., 154 Conn. 605, 606, 227 A.2d 430. The court found that in 1947 Venanzio purchased the land with money from his savings, and with his approval title was taken in the names of the plaintiff, Armando and Guido. The property was acquired for the purpose of constructing thereon an automobile service and repair station. Venanzio took a leave of absence from his employment and in addition to the work done with his own hands acted as a general contractor and supervisor. He worked full time on the premises, assisted by his sons in their spare time. After construction was completed in 1948, the plaintiff, Armando and Guido operated the service and repair station for almost four years but were not as successful as they had hoped and decided to deed the land to their father, Venanzio. Prior to the conveyance, the plaintiff had obtained other employment and had ceased working at the premises. He freely assented to the transfer to his father. Although Venanzio was the sole grantee, both the granting and habendum clauses of the deed ran to him 'and unto his survivor and unto such survivor's heirs and assigns.' Contrary to the plaintiff's claims, the court expressly found that there was no specific or implied agreement that the transfer convey only a life estate or that Venanzio would reconvey any interest to any of the sons upon their request. In 1959, Venanzio quitclaimed his interest in the land to Guido and Vincent. Upon these facts and from the actions of the plaintiff on several occasions, which we need not recite, the court concluded that the plaintiff between 1951 and 1961 did not assert any claim or title to the land, that the 1951 deed was a valid deed conveying the interest of the plaintiff and his two brothers to Venanzio, and that Venanzio was the owner until 1959, when he conveyed his interest to Guido and Vincent, who now have sole title to the land.

The 1951 deed was obviously unartfully drawn by an unskilled conveyancer. It contained the usual words of full release: 'so that neither the said Guido Faiola, Armando Faiola and Bruno Faiola nor any other person or persons in their name and behalf, shall or will hereafter claim or demand any right or title to the premises or any part thereof; but they and every of them by these presents be excluded and forever barred.' There was no reservation of any reversionary interest. There was a patent ambiguity in the granting and habendum clauses. We find no error in the court's conclusion that, under the peculiar circumstances of the present case, the deed conveyed the fee despite the words of survivorship when only one grantee was named.

'Our basic rule of construction is that recognition will be given to the expressed intention of the parties to a deed or other conveyance, and that it 'shall, if possible, be so construed as to effectuate the intent of the parties. * * * In arriving at the intent expressed * * * in the language used, however, it is always admissible to consider the situation of the parties and the circumstances connected with the transaction, and every part of the writing should be considered with the help of that evidence.' Bartholomew...