Strakosch v. Connecticut Trust & Safe Deposit Co.

• Decision Date: 22 July 1921
• Citation: 114 A. 660,96 Conn. 471
• Parties: STRAKOSCH v. CONNECTICUT TRUST & SAFE DEPOSIT CO.
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court

114 A. 660

96 Conn. 471

STRAKOSCH v. CONNECTICUT TRUST & SAFE DEPOSIT CO.

Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut.

July 22, 1921

Appeal from Superior Court, Litchfield County; Gardiner Greene and William M. Maltbie, Judges.

Action by Julia C. Strakosch against the Connecticut Trust & Safe Deposit Company, Executor, to recover on an oral contract between the plaintiff and Carl Strakosch for a provision for support not performed at the death of said Strakosch. Tried to the court on a demurrer to the complaint, and demurrer overruled; upon a demurrer and motion to an amended complaint demurrer overruled, and motion denied; and afterwards tried to the court. Facts found, and judgment rendered for the plaintiff, from which judgment, and from the rulings upon demurrers, the defendant appealed. No error.

Carl Strakosch, an Austrian by birth, married Clara Louise Kellogg in 1887, she then being 47 years old and he 27. No children were born of their union. About 1909 Mr. and Mrs. Strakosch met the plaintiff, who was then 18 years old, and thereafter the plaintiff and the Strakoschs met with increasing frequency, and the Strakoschs formed a strong attachment for the plaintiff, and at their invitation the plaintiff visited them at their home in Connecticut, and in 1914 plaintiff took an extensive trip in Europe with them as their guest, and from that time on she was mostly with them either at their home in Connecticut or at their New York home. Carl Strakosch, as early as January, 1913, told the plaintiff of the loneliness of himself and his wife and their need of a child, and developed a very strong paternal feeling towards the plaintiff. Mrs. Strakosch died on May 18, 1916. Immediately thereafter and in May Carl Strakosch orally offered the plaintiff that if she would consent to give herself in adoption to him and become his adopted daughter and assume his surname of Strakosch he would make a provision for her, in addition to the legacy of $20,000 already given her in his will, of such a value that from both sources she would, after his death, receive an income of $2,500 or $3,000 a year. This offer was discussed by Strakosch with the plaintiff from time to time after May, 1916, was continued open for her acceptance, and was subsequently, and prior to June 21, 1916, accepted by the plaintiff, and said agreement was orally made by and between Strakosch and the plaintiff. Pursuant to and in part performance of said agreement the plaintiff and Carl Strakosch subsequently, on June 21, 1916 made an adoption agreement, pursuant to the provision of the statute laws of Connecticut, which was duly approved by the court of probate for the district where said Strakosch then resided, and the plaintiff thereafter duly performed all the undertakings on her part under the agreement. This agreement was strictly within the limits of the statute, involving no other matters than those technically and legally arising out of the adoption. The operative parts were as follows:

" Witnesseth:

" First. That the said Carl Strakosch hereby accepts receives and adopts the said Julia Claire Harris as his own daughter and gives to her the name of Julia Claire Strakosch by which she shall hereafter be known and called, and assumes on his part, to the fullest extent, in reference to said Julia Claire Harris, all the rights and obligations which can be acquired by, or imposed upon any person, by the adoption of another person of full age under the provisions of the statute laws of the state of Connecticut, hereby establishing between himself and the said Julia Claire Harris the relation with all its rights and duties, of a legitimate parent and child, to the fullest extent possible under the laws of this state.

" Second. That the said Julia Claire Harris does hereby give herself in adoption to the said Carl Strakosch, as his legal child, and agrees to accept the name of Julia Claire Strakosch, by which she shall be hereafter named, and called and to assume on her own part, to the fullest extent, all the rights, duties and obligations which can be acquired by, or imposed upon any person of full age, by reason of such adoption under the provisions of the statute laws of the state of Connecticut, hereby establishing between herself and the said Carl Strakosch, the relation, with all its rights and duties of a legitimate parent and child, to the fullest extent possible, under the laws of this state."

This agreement of adoption was collateral to and independent of the oral agreement, and there was no intent on the part of the parties to make said adoption agreement include any undertakings referred to in the contract above mentioned, except those legally involved in and required by the statute concerning adoption. The provision made for the plaintiff with reference to her annual income was to be carried out by said Strakosch, but whether by buying an annuity, setting aside securities for her, or setting up a trust fund in her favor was not determined upon by said Strakosch at the time of entering into said agreement, but it was understood and intended between him and the plaintiff that said agreement gave him the option of adopting either of said modes of performance, and that the undertaking was more than an offer to make a further legacy to the plaintiff. At the time of making the agreement Strakosch was 56 years old and the plaintiff was 25 years old, and in no way related to said Strakosch other than through and by said adoption agreement. On various occasions after the original proposal and up to the time of his death Strakosch discussed with his intimate friends and the plaintiff various methods in which the full performance of his agreement might be accomplished, and the agreement with reference to said adoption and said income was acknowledged and confirmed by Strakosch at divers times during the year 1916 and up to the time of his death. Said Strakosch died suddenly on October 23, 1916, and while he was actively considering and planning for the carrying out of the part of said agreement relating to the income of the plaintiff. His will contained the bequest of $20,000 referred to in the agreement, but contained no other provision for her, his plan as to the method of carrying out said agreement not having, at the time of his death, fully matured. The claim of the plaintiff exhibited to the executor of the deceased is as follows:

" Estate of Carl Strakosch, Deceased, Late of the Town of New Hartford.

" The Connecticut Trust & Safe Deposit Company, Executor, to Claire Harris Strakosch of New York, Dr.

" To damages, for failure of Carl Strakosch to perform an agreement made by him to give to said Claire Harris Strakosch by will or otherwise, $35,000, of which he should die possessed, in addition to an amount given to her by the will of said deceased, in consideration of her signing and entering into an agreement in adoption, which the said Claire Harris Strakosch signed and entered into on the 21st day of June, 1916-$35,000."

This claim was duly rejected by the executor. The complaint as amended alleges the oral contract to have been as follows:

" On or about the 21st day of June, 1916, Carl Strakosch, late of the town of New Hartford, Litchfield county and state of Connecticut, a man of full age and having no wife, entered into a parol agreement with the plaintiff, a girl of full age and younger than himself, and who was not related to said Carl Strakosch either by the whole or half blood, and who was not the wife of said Carl Strakosch, whose name was Julia Claire Harris, to leave to her by will or otherwise a sum of money, which, if invested, would produce an annual income of $2,500, estimated by him to be the sum of $35,000, in addition to the sum of $20,000, then provided and given to her in his will, on condition and in consideration that the plaintiff give herself in adoption to him, the said Carl Strakosch, and become his legal child, and thereafter assume the surname ‘ Strakosch,’ in lieu of the surname ‘ Harris,’ and otherwise to assume on her part all the rights, duties and obligations which can be acquired by or imposed on, a person of full age by reason of such adoption under the laws of the state of Connecticut."

The court rendered judgment for the plaintiff to recover $39,640.94 as damages, which damages were estimated and determined by the court as follows:

" In arriving at the amount or measure of damages to which the plaintiff was entitled for breach of the aforesaid agreement, the court determined that the $20,000 legacy bequeathed to the plaintiff in the will of said Carl Strakosch would reasonably produce to the plaintiff an annual income of $1,000, and in estimating and determining the additional amount that would be necessary to produce the remaining portion of the income to be provided to the plaintiff under the aforesaid agreement, the court considered in determining the cost to the plaintiff of an annuity which would yield her $1,500 for her life the figures appearing in the letter of Joseph B. Gilder to Carl Strakosch (‘ Exhibit D’ ), and which were taken from the handbook of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, and determines, and finds that every thousand dollars then paid would yield plaintiff an annuity of $44.84, requiring to produce an annuity of $1,500 per year the amount of $33,452.27. To this amount the court added interest thereof from the date when the claim was disallowed, all as appears in the memorandum of decision of the trial court, dated June 12, 1920, made a part hereof and which may be printed in connection herewith."

Other necessary facts, as well as the substance of the reasons of appeal, will appear in the opinion.

Joseph F. Berry, of Hartford, for appellant.

Harry W. Reynolds, of Hartford, and William...