Ruotolo v. Tietjen Ruotolo v. Tietjen PDF

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Trust & Estates 2019 Fall course; Casebook: Dukiminier - Case Brief and Lecture Notes...

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Ruotolo v. Tietjen Appellate Court of Connecticut (2006) – p. 367 Facts: o Testator executed a will leaving one-half of his residuary estate to his stepdaughter with the language “if she survives me.” o She died 17 days before the testator, and her daughter sought to inherit her mother’s portion of the estate under CT statute § 45a-441,which allows the issue to take the devisee’s share. o The lower court held that the words “if she survives me” precluded application of the antilapse statute. (Disposition: Reversed.) Issue: o Do words of survivorship demonstrate a contrary intent on the part of the testator sufficient to negate operation of the antilapse statute? o (No)Holding: o Words of survivorship alone do not constitute a provision in the will for the contingency of the death of a beneficiary, as the statute requires, and thus are insufficient to negate operation of (theantilapse statute). Reasoning: o Should a testator desire to avoid application of the antilaps estatute, the testator must either: o Unequivocally express that intent or o Simply provide for an alternate bequest...