186 Conn. 63 | Conn. | 1982
This appeal arises from a judgment ordering the conservator of the estate of an incapable person to sell a parcel of real property located in Hartford.
On application of the conservator, the Probate Court ordered the sale of realty in the estate. The parcel addressed in the present appeal consists of 3.6 acres of industrial property with a building thereon, located at Nos. 510-512 Ledyard Street in Hartford, having a land frontage of 136 feet and a depth of 263 feet. On October 17,1979, the Probate Court'ordered the sale of the property to one Sidney Goldstein at a price of $360,000, without a real estate brokerage commission. There is no evidence that Goldstein was in any way related to a party in interest in the conservatorship, or was given any special treatment or advantage. He was the highest bidder.
The plaintiff, in her capacity as a creditor of the estate, appealed from the order to the Superior Court.
The purpose of a conservatorship is to make necessary provision for the incapable person during his disability. Norton v. Strong, 1 Conn. 65, 69 (1814); State v. Tarcha, 3 Conn. Cir. Ct. 43, 45, 207 A.2d 72 (1964). A conservator of an estate owes a duty of loyalty to a ward. See Holbrook v. Brooks, 33 Conn. 347, 351 (1866); Folsom & Wilhelm, Conn. Estates Practice: Commitment, Conservatorship, Guardianship, Adoption (Rev. Ed. 1979) § 63. The Probate Court “is primarily entrusted with the care and management of the ward’s estate . . . .” Elmendorf v. Poprocki, 155 Conn. 115, 118, 230 A.2d 1 (1967).
General Statutes § 45-238 (a) authorizes the Probate Court to order the sale of property under conservatorship “if the court finds it would be for the best interests of the parties in interest to grant the application.” Any discretion of the Probate Court passes on appeal to the Superior Court which makes an independent determination of the issues pursuant
The trial court found that the sale of the property for $360,000, without payment of a brokerage commission, was in the best interests of -the parties in interest of the estate. Two appraisers testified at trial. The defendant’s appraiser estimated that the value of the one story brick and cinder block building, the .082 acre it was situated on together with a minimum of 2.76 acres of vacant land was $334,000
There is no error.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
The trial court rendered a contemporaneous judgment ordering the sale of vacant land in the estate located off Old Windsor Road, so-called, in Bloomfield. This opinion considers only the appeal from the judgment ordering the sale of property located at Nos. 510-512
General Statutes § 45-288 provides that “[a]ny person aggrieved by any order, denial or decree of a court of probate . . . may appeal therefrom to the superior court . . . .” The Superior Court found that the plaintiff was aggrieved as a creditor of the estate and therefore had standing to appeal from the Probate Court order to the Superior Court.
In her brief the plaintiff also claimed that the sale of the property was not in the best interests of the parties in interest because the estate’s financial problems were caused by mismanagement of the conservatorship. The quality of prior management by the Probate Court and the conservator, however, is not relevant to the issue of whether a present sale is in the best interests of the parties. The conservator is merely the arm or instrumentality of the Probate Court. Johnson’s Appeal, 71 Conn. 590, 598 (1899); 2 Locke & Kohn, Conn. Probate Practice § 695. Moreover, at oral argument the plaintiff’s counsel conceded that the sale was necessary, and that the sole issue on appeal was the valuation of the property.
The acreage which the defendant’s appraiser included in the appraised value is not clear from the transcript. The written appraisal, which he increased at trial to allow for inflation, included only 2.76 acres of vacant land in the parcel. The testimony of the defendant’s -appraiser, however, was in- response to an inquiry into the value of the entire parcel which comprises approximately 3.6 acres, including the building.