Holloway v. Carvalho

Citations

• 206 Conn. App. 371

Syllabus

The plaintiff appealed to the trial court from the decree of the Probate Court admitting the decedent's will to probate. The decedent, the plaintiff's grandfather, had two children, L and the defendant. The decedent's wife had died. L died in 2010 and expressly disinherited the plaintiff, her daughter. After the death of L, the decedent and the defendant met with an attorney, B, to discuss what would happen to the decedent's estate if the defendant also predeceased him. B advised the decedent that the plaintiff, as the only child of L, would inherit one half of the decedent's assets upon his death. He responded that he did not want the plaintiff to inherit any of his assets. B then drafted a new will for the decedent that reflected his express wish to disinherit the plaintiff. The will left all of the decedent's assets to the defendant and stated that the decedent intentionally made no provision for the plaintiff. After the decedent's death, the Probate Court admitted the decedent's will. Thereafter, the plaintiff appealed to the trial court, claiming, inter alia, that the will should not have been admitted to probate because the decedent was not of sound mind and was under the defendant's improper and undue influence. Following a trial, the trial court concluded that the Probate Court properly admitted the will to probate because the decedent had testamentary capacity to execute the will and was not under the undue influence of the defendant. On the plaintiff's appeal to this court, held: 1. The plaintiff could not prevail on her claim that the trial court improperly concluded that the decedent had testamentary capacity to execute the will; the defendant presented more than sufficient evidence that the decedent was of sound mind when he executed the will, and the court based its ruling on its well supported findings that, at the time the decedent executed the will, he was able to live independently with the assistance of family members, lacked serious brain injury