In re Probate Appeal of McIntyre

Syllabus

The plaintiff, individually and as custodian of an account created for the benefit of his son, D, pursuant to the Connecticut Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (§ 45a-557 et seq.), appealed to the trial court from the decree of the Probate Court removing him as the custodian of the account and naming the defendant, the plaintiff's former wife and D's mother, as the successor custodian. Prior to the dissolution of the parties' marriage, the plaintiff withdrew funds from D's UTMA account and deposited them into a transfer on death account, which the plaintiff owned and which named D as the primary beneficiary. The plaintiff also withdrew funds from a UTMA account naming another one of the parties' sons, R, as the beneficiary and, with those funds and certain other funds that he contributed, established two additional transfer on death accounts, which the plaintiff owned and which named R and the parties' third son, respectively, as beneficiaries. Acting on the advice of counsel, the plaintiff thereafter withdrew funds from each of the transfer on death accounts to pay personal legal expenses relating to the parties' postdissolution proceedings. The defendant filed a petition in Probate Court requesting that the funds the plaintiff removed from D's UTMA account be restored, that the plaintiff be removed as the custodian of the account, and that the defendant be appointed as the successor custodian. The Probate Court decreed that the plaintiff be removed as the custodian of the account and that the defendant be named as the successor custodian. The defendant also filed a separate petition with respect to R's UTMA account and the Probate Court rendered a similar decree. The plaintiff appealed to the trial court only from the decree relating to D's UTMA account. The trial court affirmed the decree of the Probate Court to remove the plaintiff as custodian of D's UTMA account and further ordered that the defendant should continue as the successor custodian for the accounts be