Town Bank and Trust Co. v. Benson

• Decision Date: 12 December 1978
• Citation: 407 A.2d 971,176 Conn. 304
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: TOWN BANK AND TRUST COMPANY v. Lucie D. BENSON et al.

Page 971

407 A.2d 971

176 Conn. 304

TOWN BANK AND TRUST COMPANY v. Lucie D. BENSON et al.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued Oct. 18, 1978.

Decided Dec. 12, 1978.

H. William Shure, New Haven, with whom, on the brief, were John J. Kennedy, Jr., New Haven, and Michael P. Farrell, West Haven, for appellants (defendants).

Richard P. Weinstein, Manchester, for appellee (plaintiff).

Before COTTER, C. J., and LOISELLE, BOGDANSKI, LONGO and PETERS, JJ.

COTTER, Chief Justice.

The defendants Daniel A. Benson and his wife, Lucie D. Benson, executed a promissory note on May 1, 1974, in favor of the plaintiff bank in the original principal amount of $15,500. Thereafter, on November 5, 1975, Lucie D. Benson conveyed her interest in a parcel of land together with the improvements thereon, of which she was the sole owner, to her son, defendant Daniel A. Benson, Jr., for the recited consideration of $150,000. Subsequently, upon Mr. and Mrs. Benson's default on the note, the plaintiff instituted the present action claiming damages of $20,000 and requesting that the conveyance be set aside and declared null and void as to the plaintiff. The plaintiff alleged, inter alia, that the conveyance was made with the intent to avoid the payment of Mrs. Benson's debt to her creditors, particularly her debt to the plaintiff, and to place the real estate beyond the reach of process for the collection of the plaintiff's claim. The plaintiff also alleged that the defendant Daniel A. Benson, Jr., knowingly aided, abetted and conspired with Mrs. Benson to accomplish that purpose. The plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment together with affidavits and supporting documents. The defendant Daniel A. Benson, Jr., objected to the motion for summary judgment and filed a counter affidavit and supporting exhibit. The court granted the motion for summary judgment as to liability only, proceeded with a hearing as to damages, and rendered judgment setting aside the conveyance and awarding the plaintiff damages of $22,854.44, including fees and costs. From that judgment, the defendants took this appeal.

The sole issue presented in this appeal is whether the trial court erred in granting the plaintiff's motion for a summary judgment.

Since we do not have a finding or memorandum of decision in the record before us, we are at a disadvantage in attempting to determine the precise basis of the trial court's decision to grant the motion for summary judgment. The relevant portion of the judgment simply recites: "The Court further found that there was no issue as to any material fact with respect to liability." "Under these circumstances, in deciding the merits of the appeal, we are confined to an examination of the pleadings and affidavits to determine whether they '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.' Practice Book § 303; Pine Point Corporation v. Westport Bank & Trust Co., 164 Conn. 54, 55, 316 A.2d 765; Dougherty v. Graham, 161 Conn. 248, 250, 287 A.2d 382; United Oil Co. v. Urban Redevelopment Commission, 158 Conn. 364, 377, 260 A.2d 596." Spencer v. Good Earth Restaurant Corporation, 164 Conn. 194, 197, 319 A.2d 403, 404. The function of the trial court in ruling on a motion for summary judgment is to determine whether there is a genuine issue as to any material fact, but not to decide that issue if it does exist until the parties are afforded a full hearing. Practice Book, 1963, § 303; Michaud v. Gurney, 168 Conn. 431, 433, 362 A.2d 857.

Summary judgment procedure, generally speaking, is an attempt to dispose of cases involving sham or frivolous issues in a manner which is speedier and less expensive for all concerned than a full-dress trial. United Oil Co. v. Urban Redevelopment Commission, supra, 158 Conn. 375, 260 A.2d 596. However, since litigants ordinarily have a constitutional right to have issues of fact decided by a jury; Ardoline v. Keegan, 140 Conn. 552, 555, 102 A.2d 352; the moving party for summary judgment is held to a strict standard: he " 'must make a showing that it is quite clear what the truth is, and that excludes any real doubt as to the existence of any genuine issue of material fact.' " Plouffe v. New York, N.H. & H. R. Co., 160 Conn. 482, 488, 280 A.2d 359, 362.

In the present case, on the pleadings and affidavits, the parties were at issue as to whether in fact Mrs. Benson conveyed her property to her son with the intent to avoid the payment of her debt to her creditors, and whether the grantee "knowingly aided, abetted, and conspired with" her to accomplish that purpose. To prove that the conveyance was fraudulent, which the plaintiff seems to imply in its pleadings, the plaintiff had the burden of establishing either that the conveyance was made without any substantial consideration and, when made, rendered Lucie D. Benson unable to pay her then existing debts, or that it was made with a fraudulent intent in which the grantee participated. Genovese Coal Co. v. River Bend Builders, Inc., 146 Conn. 48, 51-52, 147 A.2d 193; Dombron v. Rogozinski, 120 Conn. 245, 246-48, 180 A. 453; Daly Brothers, Inc. v. Spallone, 114 Conn. 236, 241, 158 A. 237; Fishel v. Motta, 76 Conn. 197, 198, 56 A. 558.

As to the former theory of recovery, i. e., constructive fraud, while it is true that a determination as to the sufficiency of the consideration is a question of law based upon the evidence; Milaneseo v. Calvanese, 92 Conn. 641, 643, 103 A. 841; the plaintiff's failure to submit to the court affidavits or other evidence tending to establish the market value of the property transferred necessarily precluded the court from reaching the legal question of sufficiency. ¹ Since the defendant's counter affidavit specifically asserted...