Sackman v. Quinlan

Citations

• 198 Conn. App. 614

Syllabus

The plaintiffs sought to recover damages from the defendant children of N and the defendant spouse of one of the children, claiming, inter alia, that the defendants were liable for conversion, unjust enrichment and tortious interference with contractual relations in connection with N's encumbrance of a condominium that the plaintiffs' deceased father, W, had quitclaimed to N before his death. W had executed a revised will that left his interest in the condominium to N, provided that, if she were to sell the condominium, she was to set aside the proceeds for the plaintiffs, less any funds that N might need for her comfort and support. The same day that W executed his revised will, N executed her will, which provided that, if W predeceased her, her interest in the condomin- ium would pass to the plaintiffs upon her death. W and N then memorial- ized their intentions in a separate agreement that referenced the cross promises in their wills. The agreement provided that, if the property were sold during N's lifetime and after W's death, N would set aside the sale proceeds in a special account for the plaintiffs and that, if the property were not sold, it would be devised to the plaintiffs. The agreement also stated that it was a third-party beneficiary contract for the benefit of the plaintiffs and that nothing in the agreement would limit N's ability to use the funds set aside for her comfort and support, as provided for in W's revised will. N thereafter used the condominium as collateral to obtain a $100,000 line of credit and put the proceeds into an account to which her daughter, the defendant K, had access. After N died, title to the condominium passed to the plaintiffs. K, who had been appointed executrix of N's estate, rejected a claim the plaintiffs filed against the estate in which they sought $76,000 of the line of credit that they believed N had not used for improvements to the condominium. In their complaint, the plaintiffs alleged that N had failed to abide