Day v. Seblatnigg, 341 Conn. 815

In 2011 Susan D. Elia petitioned for a voluntary conservatorship; the Probate Court appointed Renee Seblatnigg conservator of Elia’s estate with authority to "manage all the estate."
Seblatnigg (as conservator) entered into asset‑protection arrangements and supervised Elia’s execution of a self‑settled, irrevocable Delaware trust and related LLC on September 15, 2011.
More than $6 million (largely from a preexisting 2007 Connecticut revocable trust) was transferred to the Delaware trust and its LLC without prior Probate Court approval under General Statutes § 45a‑655(e).
After Seblatnigg resigned, Margaret Day was appointed coconservator for matters related to the Delaware trust and sued to declare the trust void ab initio and return the assets to the conservatorship estate.
The trial court granted summary judgment for Day; the Appellate Court affirmed; First State Fiduciaries, LLC appealed to the Connecticut Supreme Court raising principally whether a voluntarily conserved person retains legal authority to create/fund such a trust.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a person under a voluntary conservatorship may create and fund an inter vivos irrevocable trust without conservator or Probate Court approval	Day: conservator has exclusive authority to "manage all the estate" under §45a‑655; Seblatnigg’s creation/funding of the trust without Probate Court approval violated §45a‑655(e), so the trust is void ab initio	First State: Elia (not a statutorily defined "conserved person") retained legal authority to create the trust; §45a‑655(e) applies only to conservators, so the statute does not bar Elia’s act	Court held conservator has exclusive control over estate matters assigned to the conservator; a voluntarily conserved person does not retain joint authority to create/fund trusts over matters assigned to the conservator; trust void ab initio
Whether assets held in a preexisting revocable trust were part of the conservatorship estate and therefore subject to §45a‑655(e)	Day: Elia had an equitable present interest in the revocable trust, making its assets part of the estate	First State: assets legally titled in preexisting trust to its trustees were not part of the conservatorship estate	Court declined to resolve this claim (not certified); decision rests on the exclusive‑authority ruling rather than a determination about preexisting trust assets

Johnson’s Appeal from Probate, 71 Conn. 590 (1899) (historic statement that conservator has sole care and management of ward’s estate)
Marshall v. Kleinman, 186 Conn. 67 (1982) (recognizing conservator’s exclusive control over estate matters)
Kortner v. Martise, 312 Conn. 1 (2014) (discussion of limited/conservatorship scope after statutory reforms)
Citizens State Bank & Trust Co. of Hiawatha v. Nolte, 226 Kan. 443 (1979) (Kansas supreme court holding voluntary conservatee may not dispose of property inter vivos without conservator or court approval)
Zobel ex rel. Hancox v. Fenendael, 127 Wis. 2d 382 (1985) (Wisconsin court reasoning that permitting unconstrained acts by conservatee would emasculate voluntary conservatorship)
Board of Regents v. Davis, 14 Cal. 3d 33 (1975) (contrasting authority based on different statutory scheme)