335 Conn. 300
Conn.2020Background
- Two family trusts (Hubbell Trust and Roche Trust), created in 1957, provide that at trust termination the principal be distributed "to [grantor's] issue then living, per stirpes." The trusts expire at the death of the last of specified measuring lives (including the grantors, the grantors' three children, and two grandchildren).
- Plaintiffs are grandchildren and potential beneficiaries who asked the court to declare the principal be divided into six equal shares (grandchildren as stirpital roots), with deceased grandchildren's shares passing to their issue.
- Defendants (other potential beneficiaries and trustees) moved for summary judgment asserting the corpus should be divided into three equal shares with the grantor's three children as the heads of the stirpes (children as stirpital roots).
- Trial court denied plaintiffs' SJ, granted defendants' SJ, and declared each trust's corpus will be divided equally among the three children, with living descendants of each child succeeding to that child's share.
- On appeal the court considered whether "issue" and the phrase "then living" require initial division at grandchildren level or at the first generation below the grantor (children), and whether the fact that the children are measuring lives (thus cannot themselves receive distributions) affects their role as stirpital roots.
- Supreme Court affirmed: controlling Connecticut precedent, the Restatement, and Connecticut intestacy law support treating the grantors' children as the initial stirpital roots; "then living" conditions survivorship but does not change the generational root.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generation that serves as stirpital roots for the per stirpes distribution | Roots should be the grandchildren (divide into six equal shares) | Roots should be the grantors' children (divide into three equal shares) | Children are the stirpital roots; divide into three equal shares and apply per stirpes within each branch |
| Effect of phrase "then living" on initial division | "Then living" modifies "issue," so initial division should be among those alive when trust terminates | "Then living" only conditions receipt of a share on surviving termination; it does not change the method or generational root | "Then living" conditions survivorship for taking; it does not alter that initial division is by first generation below grantor (children) |
| Whether naming children as measuring lives (so they cannot receive) prevents them from serving as stirpital roots | Because children are measuring lives and cannot receive, they cannot be heads of stirpes; grandchildren must be roots | Being ineligible to receive distribution does not preclude a generation from serving as stirpital roots | Children may serve as stirpital roots even though they cannot personally receive distributions due to measuring-life clauses |
| Choice of law/authorities to govern interpretation (Restatement, CT intestacy, NY law) | Reliance on New York cases or on timing-of-distribution rules that look to living descendants at distribution | Connecticut law, Restatement (Second) of Property, and CT intestacy statutes govern and favor initial division at children | Connecticut precedent and Restatement/CT intestacy control; New York approach is inapplicable here |
Key Cases Cited
- Hartford National Bank & Trust Co. v. Thrall, 184 Conn. 497 (defining per stirpes and stating necessity of identifying heads of stirpes)
- Warren v. First New Haven Nat’l Bank, 150 Conn. 120 (construing "issue" to follow intestate succession order when meaning is unrestricted)
- Close v. Benham, 97 Conn. 102 (presumption that estate is to be distributed per stirpes and in accordance with state distribution statute)
- Stamford Trust Co. v. Lockwood, 98 Conn. 337 (policy favoring equal distribution among family branches; supports locating stirpital roots at children)
- Bank of New England, N.A. v. McKennan, 19 Mass. App. 686 (Mass. Appeals Ct. persuasive analog: per stirpes with children as roots even when children are measuring lives)