DocketNumber: 13645; 13674
Citation Numbers: 213 Conn. 573
Filed Date: 1/30/1990
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 9/8/2022
Both of these appeals arise from a declaratory judgment action brought by the plaintiff bank as a trustee to determine which of the defendants are the “issue” of Dexter D. Coffin, Jr., and thus beneficiaries of an inter vivos trust created by his father, Dexter D. Coffin, and of testamentary trusts created by both his parents.
In Connecticut Bank & Trust Co. v. Coffin, 212 Conn. 678, 563 A.2d 1323 (1989), (Coffin I), this court found no error in the trial court’s construction of the trust indenture executed by Dexter D. Coffin on April 30, 1957, to exclude as beneficiaries of the trust any children who had been adopted by his son, Dexter D. Coffin, Jr., and his grandson, Dexter D. Coffin III, but to include Kathryn Blaire Greenhalgh, the settlor’s great-granddaughter, who had been adopted out of the Coffin family after dissolution of her mother’s marriage to Dexter D. Coffin III. The present appeals concern, not the 1957 trust, but the wills of Dexter D. Coffin
The trial court decided to give the word “issue” as used in the testamentary trusts the same meaning it had attributed to that word in the 1957 trust, thereby excluding as beneficiaries the children adopted by Dexter D. Coffin, Jr.,
The wills of both Dexter D. Coffin and his wife contained a provision declaring that the word “issue” should not include “adopted persons” and specifically
We have concluded that the 1959 enactment does not control the construction of the term “issue” in the testamentary trusts because of the clearly expressed intention of the testators to exclude “adopted persons” as beneficiaries. In Coffin I we resolved the ambiguity inherent in the term “adopted persons” by affirming the trial court’s finding, based upon the testimony presented, that Dexter D. Coffin, as settlor of the 1957 trust, intended to refer only to persons adopted into the Coffin family and not to blood descendants who might be adopted out of the family, except for the spe
There is no error.
The trial court rendered its decision on the questions involving the inter vivos trust on January 30,1987. After appeals from that judgment had been filed, but before publication of the opinion of this court in Connecticut Bank & Trust Co. v. Coffin, 212 Conn. 678, 563 A.2d 1323 (1989), disposing of those appeals on August 22, 1989, the trial court on December 22, 1988, rendered its judgment concerning the testamentary trusts, from which the present appeals have been taken.
Dexter D. Coffin, Jr., adopted the children of his third wife, Mary K. Elliott. These children have been referred to as the Elliott children in this litigation.
Dexter D. Coffin III adopted Sean Van Schoonmaker Coffin, a child of his second wife, Elaine Van Schoonmaker. Dexter D. Coffin III also adopted the children of his third wife, Joanne Fogerty. These children have been referred to as the Fogerty children.
Number 106 of the 1959 Public Acts, provided as follows: “The words ‘child’, ‘children’, ‘issue’, ‘descendant’, ‘descendants’, ‘heir’, ‘heirs’, ‘lawful heirs’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘grandchildren’, when used in the singular or plural in any will or trust instrument, shall, unless such document clearly indicates a contrary intention, include legally adopted persons. Nothing herein shall be construed to alter or modify the provisions of section 45-162. The provisions of this act shall apply to wills and trust instruments executed subsequent to the effective date hereof [October 1, 1959].” At the time the last wills of Dexter D. Coffin and Elizabeth Dorr Coffin were executed on October 2, 1964, and July 31,1963, respectively, this enactment had been designated as General Statutes § 45-65a and had been revised by substituting “October 1,1959” for “the effective date hereof.” General Statutes 1965 Cumulative Supplements (1959-65). As revised, this provision has currently been incorporated into General Statutes § 45-64a (4), as follows: “The adopted person shall, except as hereinafter provided, be treated as if he were the genetic child of the adopting parent for purposes of the applicability of all documents and instruments, whether executed before or after the adoption decree is issued, which do not expressly exclude an adopted person in their operation or effect. The words ‘child,’ ‘children,’ ‘issue,’ ‘descendant,’ ‘descendants,’ ‘heir,’ ‘heirs,’ ‘lawful heirs,’ ‘grandchild’ and ‘grandchildren,’ when used in any will or trust instrument shall include legally adopted persons unless such document clearly indicates a contrary intention. Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter or modify the provisions of section 45-162 regarding children born through A.I.D.”
In the will of Dexter D. Coffin, executed on October 2, 1964, this provision was as follows: “The term ‘issue’ as used in this will is not intended to include adopted persons and their issue. Wherever in this will reference is made to the issue of sons of mine or to my issue, the term ‘issue’ shall be deemed not to include my grandson Robert L. Olmstead (formerly Robert Linwood Coffin) or any issue of said grandson, and no part of the net income or principal of my estate or of any trust hereby created shall be paid to my said grandson or to any issue of his.”
The corresponding provision of the will of Elizabeth Dorr Coffin, executed on July 31, 1963, was identical.
The comparable provision of the 1957 trust indenture was as follows: “SECOND: Wherever in this trust indenture reference is made to the ‘issue’ of the grantor’s son Dexter D. Coffin, Jr., the term ‘issue’ shall be deemed not to include the grantor’s said grandson Robert L. Olmstead or any issue of said grandson, and no part of the net income or principal of the trust fund shall be paid to the grantor’s said grandson Robert L. Olmstead or to any issue of said grandson. The term ‘issue’ as used in this trust indenture is not intended to include adopted persons and their issue.”