Barash v. Lembo

Citations

• 348 Conn. 264

Syllabus

The plaintiffs, three siblings who were beneficiaries of an inter vivos trust established by their father, R, and S, who was one of three cotrustees of the trust, sought to recover damages from the defendant, another one of the cotrustees, for the defendant's alleged breach of her fiduciary duty. S is the ex-wife of R and the mother of the trust beneficiaries, whereas the defendant was married to R at the time of his death in 2007. In 2006, R executed a will leaving the residue of his estate to the trust. At the time of R's death, R owned a 49 percent interest in certain commercial real estate development projects, including properties owned by E Co., M Co., and N Co., which became a part of his estate upon his death. R's business partner, F, also held a 49 percent interest in each of the three companies, and, after R's death, F served as the sole manager of each of the companies pursuant to their respective operating agree- ments. L had served as the sole executor of the estate since 2009. In 2016, S was appointed as the third cotrustee of the trust, joining the defendant and L, the other two cotrustees. After S was appointed as a cotrustee, the plaintiffs raised various challenges in the Probate Court to L's management of the estate and to certain accountings, and sought to remove L as executor. Those challenges were predicated on allega- tions that L had breached his duty of loyalty on the grounds that he engaged in self-dealing and had a conflict of interest stemming from his personal and professional relationship with F. The Probate Court, however, rejected the plaintiffs' claims and issued various decrees deny- ing the petition to remove L as executor and approving in part the challenged accountings. The plaintiffs and L filed separate appeals from the Probate Court's decrees, which were consolidated and scheduled for a trial de novo in the Superior Court. Meanwhile, in their complaint against the defendant in the present case, the plaintiffs alleged that she