Lancellotti v. Lancellotti
| Decision Date | 15 August 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 76-102-A,76-102-A |
| Citation | 377 A.2d 1315,119 R.I. 184 |
| Parties | Joseph A. LANCELLOTTI et al. v. Enrico LANCELLOTTI a/k/a et al. ppeal. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
The plaintiffs brought this civil action for equitable relief seeking to enjoin the defendants from transferring, selling or mortgaging certain real estate involved in this cause. They also request that certain deeds conveying the real estate in question from the defendant Angelina Lancellotti to the defendant Enrico Lancellotti be declared null and void and that the subject real estate be held in trust in accordance with the terms and conditions of the joint will of defendant Angelina and her late husband Gaetano. 1 The matter was heard before a justice of the Superior Court sitting without a jury. In his decision the trial justice made certain findings relating to the testamentary intent of the testator and testatrix on the basis of which he granted the plaintiffs' prayers for relief. The case is before us on the defendants' appeal from the judgment entered pursuant to the trial justice's decision.
The facts are substantially as follows. Gaetano, who died in July 1966, and defendant Angelina Lancellotti were the parents of eight surviving children, three of whom are plaintiffs and one of whom, Enrico, also known as Harry A. Lancellotti, is one of defendants in the case at bar.
Gaetano and Angelina were the owners as joint tenants of certain real estate located at 453 Charles Street in the city of Providence, which they acquired by deed executed on March 30, 1931.
On July 20, 1960, Gaetano and Angelina executed a joint will; it is the meaning of that will which is the controlling factor in this case. As stated above, Gaetano died in July of 1966. The joint will was not probated until May 24, 1974, approximately eight years later, when a copy of the will was duly probated in the Probate Court of the city of Providence. An administrator c.t.a. was appointed and qualified. There was no appeal taken.
On August 10, 1973, Angelina conveyed the Charles Street real estate to her son Enrico. The defendant Enrico was unmarried and lived most of his life with his parents and took care of his mother after his father's decease. Angelina was approximately 82 or 83 years of age at the time of the commencement of the instant action.
The will involved in this case was drafted by William G. Grande, an attorney, who is the husband of one of the plaintiffs. He was not present when the will was executed.
The plaintiffs allege in their complaint that Gaetano and Angelina were bound by a mutual contract in their will wherein the joint tenancy in which their real estate was held was severed and a life tenancy created with the remainder to go to all the children equally, subject under the will to deductions for certain advances made by the father to some of the boys. In substance the complaint alleges that it was the intention of the parties that all their property was to go to the survivor as a life tenant.
In their answer defendants deny that the joint will created a life estate in Angelina. They contend that the will was clear, convincing and positive that each party only devised their separate estates as life tenants and excluded property jointly held by both of them. Further they contend that Angelina was not divested of her property and had the right to convey it.
All the children, except plaintiffs, testified by deposition that their mother told them that it was always her desire and wish to give the property in question to Enrico.
Mr. Grande further testified that the desire to leave their property to all of the children equally was subject to deductions for certain advances the father had made to some of the sons.
The defendants moved to strike the foregoing testimony on the ground that the will spoke for itself. The trial justice denied the motion to strike. He also overruled defendants' objections to similar testimony by Mr. Grande concerning statements made to him by Gaetano and Angelina as to how they wanted their property disposed of in their will.
During the hearing in the Superior Court, counsel agreed that the complaint was based on plaintiffs' claim that the mother had no right to convey the property because of the agreement that she made with her husband in the will. They also agreed that this was the key issue in the case and that the determination of this issue depended upon an interpretation of the will.
In his decision granting plaintiffs' prayers for relief, the trial justice noted that the prime issue before him was the interpretation of the will. He also noted that the only real property ever owned by the elder Lancellottis was the Charles Street property which was held in joint tenancy. He stated that the language in paragraph "Third" of the will presented the difficulty in this case. That paragraph reads as follows:
After referring to the conflicting contentions of the parties, namely, plaintiffs' contention that their mother had no right to transfer the property as she only had a life estate, and defendants' contention that the mother held the property in fee simple absolute as a result of the survivorship aspect of the joint tenancy, the trial justice made the following finding:
After finding that there was an ambiguity in the will, the trial justice ruled that when there is language in a will that creates an ambiguity, it is the obligation of the court to ascertain the dispositive intent by considering the instrument in its entirety and also by taking into consideration the circumstances surrounding its formulation. He also discussed Mr. Grande's testimony that it was the intent of the elder Lancellottis that the Charles Street property was not to be excluded from the contractual terms of the joint will and that it was their wish and desire that the survivor receive a life estate in the property with the remainder going to the children equally, subject to deductions for certain advancements.
The trial justice also discussed the testimony given by Angelina in a deposition taken on March 13, 1974. He concluded that Mr. Grande's testimony left no doubt as to the intent of his mother-in-law and his father-in-law and, after considering all the factors before him, he found that Gaetano intended a life estate to vest in the survivor.
With respect to the severance of the joint tenancy, the trial justice held that the joint will, which the parties declared to be contractual, effected a valid severance of the jointly held property and, upon the death of Gaetano, the surviving wife became vested in a life estate in the realty with a remainder over to the children.
In challenging the correctness of the trial justice's decision, defendants contend in substance that the will, when read in its entirety, is clear, unambiguous and positive and not so complicated or so inartfully articulated that the ordinary, sensible, primary and common meaning contained therein cannot be given to the words as written. Further, they contend that the mutual promises and consideration in the contract as set out in their joint will deal only with the disposition of their individual and separate estates; that paragraph "Third" specifically excludes any jointly owned real estate; and that the will, and in particular paragraph "Third," is so carefully drawn to indicate that only the individual estates of the parties are subject to the life estate which is expressed therein.
To support their argument they refer specifically to language in certain portions of the will which they claim is controlling on the question of ambiguity. First they point to the following language in the preamble of the will:
"We, GAETANO LANCELLOTTI and ANGELA LANCELLOTTI * * * mindful of the uncertainties of life and the certainties of death, and being anxious, each to make suitable provision for the other in the event of either, and also to provide for the distribution of each of our separate estates, in the event of our simultaneous deaths, do hereby make, publish and declare this to be our joint will * * *."
Next they direct our attention to paragraph "First" which reads, in part, as follows:
"We jointly and severally declare that the provisions hereinafter made for the disposition of property owned by each of us are the result of a contract and agreement between us * * *."
Lastly, they refer to the language in paragraph "Third" quoted above. They contend that the only...
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...contracting parties, but the intent which has been expressed by the language contained in the contract." Lancellotti v. Lancellotti, 119 R.I. 184, 198, 377 A.2d 1315, 1322 (1977).) ...
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...tenancy, and as authority for her severance theory she relies upon the sentiments expressed by the majority in Lancellotti v. Lancellotti, 119 R.I. 184, 377 A.2d 1315 (1977). A second Superior Court justice, in dismissing the suit, never reached the severance question. Instead he referred t......
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