In re Eder

• Decision Date: 10 October 2017
• Docket Number: AC 39024
• Citation: 177 Conn.App. 163,171 A.3d 506
• Court: Connecticut Court of Appeals
• Parties: David Eric EDER'S APPEAL FROM PROBATE

177 Conn.App. 163

171 A.3d 506

David Eric EDER'S APPEAL FROM PROBATE^*

AC 39024

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued May 30, 2017

Officially released October 10, 2017

David R. Schaefer, with whom, was Michael T. Cretella, for the appellant (plaintiff).

Glenn W. Dowd, with whom, were Seth Morgan Kaplowitz and Casey R. Healey, and, on the brief, Howard Fetner, for the appellees (defendants).

Lavine, Alvord and Beach, Js.

LAVINE, J.

David Eric Eder (David Eder), the biological son of the settlor, John Dennis Eder (settlor), appealed to the Superior Court from a decree of the Probate Court concluding that the remainder beneficiaries of the John Dennis Eder Annuity Trust (trust) include not only the settlor's biological child, but also his adult adopted children.¹ Following a hearing, the Superior Court concluded that the Probate Court properly had construed the trust and dismissed the appeal. David Eder appealed to this court, claiming that, as a matter of law, the Superior Court erred by holding (1) that the settlor's intent in establishing the trust was not relevant to determining whether the subject adoptions were a sham and (2) that the adoptions did not contravene the purpose and intent of the trust because the adoptees were the natural objects of the settlor's bounty. We affirm the judgment of the court.

The root cause of the present appeal appears to be a falling-out between a father and his biological son. The Court of Probate for the district of New Haven succinctly set forth the crux of the appeal in its decree issued on February 12, 2014. "[The settlor created the trust] on October 21, 1991. The trust has terminated as of October 21, 2011. An irrevocable trust, the trust provides for distribution of trust property upon termination to 'each child of the [settlor] then living.' Though the settlor has only one biological child, [David Eder], the settlor recently adopted, on June 30, 2010, in the [commonwealth] of Massachusetts, two adults, Sacha [Richter] and Mischa Richter [Richter brothers]. On November 3, 2011, the trustees brought an application for the determination of the trust's beneficiaries. At issue is whether the settlor's adopted children fall within the trust's class of beneficiaries and may thus benefit from the distribution of trust assets as remainder beneficiaries, or are disqualified outside of such trust by fraud or other cause." (Emphasis added.) The Probate Court determined that the remainder beneficiaries of the trust include both the settlor's biological son and his adopted children. The Probate Court ordered the trustees to distribute the trust in equal shares to David Eder, Sacha Richter, and Mischa Richter.²

After the Probate Court issued its decree, on March 11, 2014, David Eder appealed to the Superior Court. As reasons for the appeal, he alleged that he was aggrieved by the Probate Court's decree because "neither adoptee is a 'Child' of John Eder within the meaning of that term contained in the [trust]; and even if the term 'Child' in the [trust] could be interpreted to include adopted children, the adoption of the Richter brothers was a fraud/sham entered into for the sole purpose of changing the beneficiaries of an irrevocable trust."

The court found the following facts, which are not challenged by David Eder. David Eder was born to the settlor and Pearl–Ellen Bench (mother) in 1963, when the settlor was eighteen years old. The settlor and mother divorced soon thereafter. Throughout his childhood, David Eder lived in Connecticut with his mother and her second husband, H. William Shure. Shure had a parent-like relationship with David Eder, and they remain close today. The settlor had little involvement with David Eder and moved to Provincetown, Massachusetts, in 1970.

The settlor met Jill Richter in 1972 and began to live with her and her sons, the Richter brothers, in 1975.

At the time, Sacha Richter was six years old and Mischa Richter was four years old. For the next ten years, the settlor, Jill Richter, and the Richter brothers lived together in Provincetown. The settlor and Jill Richter separated in approximately 1985, but the settlor has continued his relationship, including financial and emotional support, with the Richter brothers to the present day.

In 1991, for tax planning purposes, Arthur Eder, the settlor's father, directed his attorney to draft a trust instrument for the settlor.³ Pursuant to the settlor's trust, the settlor was to receive $114,000 per year for twenty years at which time the trust ended; the corpus of the trust was to be distributed in equal shares to "each child of the [settlor] then living." The settlor executed the trust on October 21, 1991.

David Eder and the settlor had an amicable relationship until approximately 2009. For reasons that are not directly relevant to this appeal, the settlor had a falling-out with David Eder and sought to disinherit him. He consulted Michael D'Addio, an attorney trustee, to undo the monetary gifts that he had made to David Eder. Michael D'Addio informed the settlor that, for tax purposes, the trust was irrevocable and that the settlor did not have the authority to revoke the trust or change the beneficiary.

The court found that, in 2010, the settlor wished to legalize his parental relationships with the Richter brothers and talked to them individually about his plan. The Richter brothers, who were adults, agreed to be adopted by the settlor, and the Probate and Family Court for the County of Barnstable, Massachusetts, approved the adoptions on June 30, 2010. The settlor admitted that the reason he adopted the Richter brothers at the time was "to include them in the [trust] before the date expired." The trust terminated on October 21, 2011.

David Eder claims that by adopting the Richter brothers, the settlor improperly added two remainder beneficiaries to the trust to reduce the size of his share of the trust's corpus. On November 3, 2011, the trustees, Michael D'Addio and Gail D'Addio, filed an application in the Probate Court seeking a determination of the trust's beneficiaries. After the Probate Court decreed that David Eder as well as the Richter brothers were the remainder beneficiaries of the trust, David Eder appealed to the Superior Court.

The standard of review applicable to probate appeals is well known. "In a probate appeal ... the Superior Court's jurisdiction is statutory and limited to the order appealed from. The issues presented for review are those defined in the reasons of appeal. The Superior Court cannot consider or adjudicate issues beyond the scope of those proper for determination by the order or decree attacked. This is so even with the consent of the parties to the appeal because the court has subject matter jurisdiction limited only to the order or decree appealed from." Silverstein's Appeal from Probate , 13 Conn.App. 45, 58, 534 A.2d 1223 (1987). "[The Superior Court] tries the questions presented to it de novo, but in so doing it is ... exercising a special and limited jurisdiction conferred on it by the statute authorizing appeals from probate." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., at 53–54, 534 A.2d 1223.

The probate appeal was tried on July 27 and 28, 2015. On March 2, 2016, the court issued a lengthy and comprehensive memorandum of decision dismissing the appeal, holding that the Richter brothers, as adoptees, are children of the settlor within the meaning of the trust and that the adoptions were not a sham as the adoptees were the natural objects of the settlor's bounty. David Eder appealed.

In this court, David Eder claims that, as a matter of law, the Superior Court erred in holding (1) that the settlor's intent in adopting two adults was not relevant to a determination of whether the adoptions were a sham and (2) that the purpose of the trust was not contravened by the settlor's adopting the Richter brothers because they were the natural objects of his bounty. We disagree.

ITHE TRUST

In adjudicating the probate appeal, the court first construed the trust. "Where the language of the [trust instrument] is clear and unambiguous, the [instrument] is to be given effect according to its terms. A court will not torture words to import ambiguity where the ordinary meaning leaves no room for ambiguity.... [T]he issue of intent as it relates to the interpretation of a trust instrument ... is to be determined by examination of the language of the trust instrument itself and not by extrinsic evidence of actual intent.... The construction of a trust instrument presents a question of law to be determined in the light of facts that are found by the trial court or are undisputed or indisputable." (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.)

Heath v. Heath , 150 Conn.App. 199, 203–204, 90 A.3d 362, cert. denied, 312 Conn. 921, 94 A.3d 1200 (2014) ; see also Heffernan v. Freedman , 177 Conn. 476, 481, 418 A.2d 895 (1979). An appellate court's review of conclusions of law is plenary. State v. Velasco , 248 Conn. 183, 189, 728 A.2d 493 (1999).

The court found that, at the urging of his father, the settlor established an annuity trust in 1991, which was to terminate in twenty years. The trust was to provide the settlor with $114,000 per year and after twenty years, the trust was to terminate and the trust assets were to be distributed "into separate, equal shares, so as to provide one share for each child of the Grantor then living ...." (Emphasis added.) The court identified the relevant provisions of the trust.

Subsection one of Article XIII of the trust is entitled "Definitions" and provides: "Lineal Descendants: The term 'lineal descendants' used anywhere in this Trust Indenture shall mean child, grandchild, great-grandchild, etc., whether so related by blood or legal adoption , including any of the aforesaid born or adopted after the signing of this Trust Indenture. The grantor's only living child is David Eric Eder." (Emphasis added.) Subsection six of Article I contemplates that the...