LaFlamme v. Dallessio

• Decision Date: 06 August 2002
• Docket Number: (SC 16594)
• Citation: 261 Conn. 247,802 A.2d 63
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: ROSE LAFLAMME v. JOSEPH DALLESSIO, EXECUTOR (ESTATE OF DOMINIC DALLESSIO)

261 Conn. 247

802 A.2d 63

ROSE LAFLAMME v. JOSEPH DALLESSIO, EXECUTOR (ESTATE OF DOMINIC DALLESSIO)

(SC 16594)

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued April 24, 2002

Officially released August 6, 2002

Borden, Norcott, Katz, Palmer and Vertefeuille, Js. Michael W. Levy, for the appellant (plaintiff).

John P. Calabrese, for the appellee (defendant).

Opinion

NORCOTT, J.

The sole issue in this appeal is whether the Appellate Court properly concluded that there was no genuine issue of material fact regarding whether the defendant, who was sued in his representative capacity as executor of his decedent's estate, was in possession or control of the premises on which the plaintiff alleged that she was injured. The plaintiff, Rose LaFlamme, appeals from the judgment of the Appellate Court affirming the trial court's grant of summary judgment for the defendant, Joseph Dallessio, the executor of the estate of the decedent, Dominic Dallessio.¹LaFlamme v. Dallessio, 65 Conn. App. 1, 7, 781 A.2d 482 (2001). On appeal, the plaintiff claims that the Appellate Court improperly concluded that: (1) during the settlement of an estate, the executor never has a duty to keep property of the estate in a reasonably safe condition; and (2) certain Probate Court decrees and affidavits did not establish a genuine issue of material fact as to the defendant's control of the property. We granted certification limited to the following issue: "Did the Appellate Court properly conclude that there was no material question of fact regarding whether the defendant executor owed a duty of care to the plaintiff?" LaFlamme v. Dallessio, 258 Conn. 924, 925, 783 A.2d 1027 (2001). We reverse the judgment of the Appellate Court.

The plaintiff brought this action against the defendant alleging that he was negligent in failing to exercise reasonable care to keep the estate property in a reasonably safe condition. Specifically, the plaintiff alleged that a dangerous and defective condition existed on the driveway of property owned and controlled by the estate, which caused her to fall and sustain personal injuries. Subsequently, the defendant moved for summary judgment, asserting that he was not in possession or control of the property and, therefore, he owed no duty of care to the plaintiff. The trial court, Hennessey, J., granted the defendant's motion and rendered judgment for the defendant. The Appellate Court affirmed the trial court's grant of summary judgment. LaFlamme v. Dallessio, supra, 65 Conn. App. 7. This appeal followed.

The standard of review of a trial court's decision granting summary judgment is well established. Practice Book § 17-49 provides that summary judgment "shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, affidavits and any other proof submitted show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." "In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the trial court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Suarez v. Dickmont Plastics Corp., 229 Conn. 99, 105, 639 A.2d 507 (1994). The party moving for summary judgment has the burden of showing the absence of any genuine issue of material fact and that the party is, therefore, entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Dougherty v. Graham, 161 Conn. 248, 250, 287 A.2d 382 (1971). Our review of the trial court's decision to grant the defendant's motion for summary judgment is plenary. H.O.R.S.E. of Connecticut, Inc. v. Washington, 258 Conn. 553, 560, 783 A.2d 993 (2001).

The plaintiff claims that the Appellate Court improperly concluded that there was no genuine issue of material fact regarding who had possession and control of the property upon which the plaintiff alleges that she was injured. The defendant argues that, because certain Probate Court decrees gave possession and control of the property to the decedent's widow for a period of one year after the death of the decedent, he did not, as a matter of law, have possession or control of the property during the time the plaintiff alleges that she was injured and, therefore, he did not owe a duty of care to her. We agree with the plaintiff.

In a negligence action, the plaintiff must meet all of the essential elements of the tort in order to prevail. These elements are: duty; breach of that duty; causation; and actual injury. RK Constructors, Inc. v. Fusco Corp., 231 Conn. 381, 384, 650 A.2d 153 (1994). "Duty is a legal conclusion about relationships between individuals, made after the fact, and [is] imperative to a negligence cause of action. The nature of the duty, and the specific persons to whom it is owed, are determined by the circumstances surrounding the conduct of the individual." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Jaworski v. Kiernan, 241 Conn. 399, 405, 696 A.2d 332 (1997). Although the determination of whether a duty exists is ordinarily a question of law; Petriello v. Kalman, 215 Conn. 377, 382, 576 A.2d 474 (1990); under some circumstances, the question involves elements of both fact and law. Raboin v. North American Industries, Inc., 57 Conn. App. 535, 538, 749 A.2d 89, cert. denied, 254 Conn. 910, 759 A.2d 505 (2000).

In order to assess the duty owed to the plaintiff, it is first necessary to establish the point from which that duty flows. Our law is well settled that the executor of an estate does not take title to real property of the estate. Ryder v. Lyon, 85 Conn. 245, 252, 82 A. 573 (1912). Upon death of the owner of real property, legal title to real property immediately passes to the decedent's heirs, subject to the right of the executor to administer the estate. O'Connor v. Chiascione, 130 Conn. 304, 306, 33 A.2d 336 (1943). Liability for injuries caused by defective premises, however, does not depend on who holds legal title, but rather on who has possession and control of the property. Farlow v. Andrews Corp., 154 Conn. 220, 225, 224 A.2d 546 (1966). Thus, the dispositive issue in deciding whether a duty exists is whether the executor of an estate has any right to possession and control of the property.

Therefore, the issue in this appeal is governed by General Statutes § 45a-321 (a),² which provides in relevant part: "The fiduciary of a decedent's estate shall, during settlement, have the possession, care and control of the decedent's real property . . . unless such real property has been specifically devised or directions have been given by the decedent's will which are inconsistent with this section; but the court may order surrender of the possession and control of such real property to the heirs or devisees, or may, during settlement, order distribution of such real property."

We must first establish the meaning of § 45a-321 (a). " `The process of statutory interpretation involves a reasoned search for the intention of the legislature. Frillici v. Westport, 231 Conn. 418, 431, 650 A.2d 557 (1994). In other words, we seek to determine, in a reasoned manner, the meaning of the statutory language as applied to the facts of this case, including the question of whether the language actually does apply. In seeking to determine that meaning, we look to the words of the statute itself, to the legislative history and circumstances surrounding its enactment, to the legislative policy it was designed to implement, and to its relationship to existing legislation and common law principles governing the same general subject matter. . . . Id.; Carpenteri-Waddington, Inc. v. Commissioner of Revenue Services, 231 Conn. 355, 362, 650 A.2d 147 (1994); United Illuminating Co. v. Groppo, 220 Conn. 749, 755-56, 601 A.2d 1005 (1992).' . . . United Illuminating Co. v. New Haven, 240 Conn. 422, 431-32, 692 A.2d 742 (1997)." Bender v. Bender, 258 Conn. 733, 741, 785 A.2d 197 (2001).

Pursuant to the plain language of § 45a-321 (a), the executor of an estate will have possession, care and control of the decedent's real property during the settlement of the estate unless one of three conditions exists: (1) the property has been specifically devised in the decedent's will; (2) directions are given in the decedent's will that are inconsistent with the statute; or (3) the court has ordered the executor to surrender possession, care and control of the property in favor of the heirs, or the court has ordered distribution of the property. See General Statutes § 45a-321 (a). None of these conditions exists in the present case.

Our review of the decedent's will reveals that he did not specifically devise the property upon which the plaintiff alleged that she was injured, and he did not leave any directions that were inconsistent with the terms of § 45a-321.³ The decedent's will also did not include any express provision devising the property at issue. As such, it fell within the residuary clause, which left the "rest, residue, and remainder" of his property to the decedent's siblings in equal shares. See footnote 3 of this opinion. These equal shares given to the beneficiaries listed in the decedent's will were without regard to any particular fund or property and may be satisfied out of the general assets of the decedent's estate.⁴ The property involved in this appeal had not, therefore, been specifically devised in the decedent's will.

The defendant points to two Probate Court decrees, issued prior to the plaintiff's alleged injury, which gave the decedent's widow use of the marital home for a period of one year after the death of the decedent.⁵ It was upon this property that the plaintiff alleged she had been injured. The defendant submits that these decrees support his claim that he owed no duty to the plaintiff because the Probate Court had ordered him to surrender possession, care and control of the property to the decedent's widow. The Appellate Court agreed with the defendant, and concluded that the Probate Court decrees were conclusive evidence that the decedent's widow...