Fredo v. Fredo

Citations

• 234 Conn. App. 106

Syllabus

The plaintiff, whose marriage to the defendant previously had been dis- solved, appealed from the trial court's judgment granting the defendant's motion for contempt with respect to the plaintiff's failure to transfer two lots of real property, one to the defendant and one to a trust for the benefit of the parties' children, pursuant to court orders. The plaintiff claimed, inter alia, that the defendant did not have standing to assert a claim regarding the lot that he was supposed to transfer to a trust for the benefit of their children. Held: The trial court improperly rendered judgment for the defendant with respect to her claim regarding the lot that was supposed to be transferred to a trust for the benefit of the parties' children, as the defendant failed to demonstrate a direct or personal interest in the lot or a direct injury she had suffered as a result of the plaintiff's failure to transfer that lot and, accordingly, the defendant lacked standing to assert a claim as to that lot. This court declined to review the plaintiff's claim that the trial court erred in finding him in contempt because his failure to transfer the lots was not wilful, as the plaintiff failed to provide this court with a transcript of the contempt hearing and, thus, the record was inadequate for review. The trial court's monetary award to the defendant, following its finding of contempt, did not constitute an impermissible modification of a property settlement, as the award was not in response to a motion that sought modification of the court's orders but, rather, a motion for contempt that sought to effectuate those orders by transfer of the lots at issue and, because the court could not effectuate its prior orders or make the defendant whole by ordering the transfer of the lots due to the plaintiff's delay in complying with those orders, the monetary award was necessary to vindicate the court's prior orders. This court declined to review the plaintiff's claim that the trial court's mo