425 A.2d 553
Supreme Court of Connecticut
COTTER, C.J., LOISELLE, BOGDANSKI, LONGO and PETERS, Js.
The defendant department of social services appealed from the judgment of the Court of Common Pleas reversing an order of the commissioner of that department terminating medical assistance payments to the two plaintiffs, mentally handicapped sisters, who, because they were incapable of caring for themselves, had been placed in a convalescent institution. The payments, which had been made in accordance with title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 1396-1396i), were terminated on the ground that the sisters had available assets in excess of the permissible limits for medical assistance payments established by
Page 84
state regulations. The assets consisted of a joint savings account administered by their brother D in accordance with the terms of a testamentary trust created by their father. Under the terms of the trust D was given the powers to accumulate and withhold income, to discriminate against either sister and to consider other sources of funds available to them before applying the income or principal of the trust for their benefit. Since under applicable federal law only assets “actually available” to a medical assistance recipient may be considered by a state in determining eligibility for public assistance programs like title XIX, and since here the sisters, because they themselves did not own the assets in the savings account, could not compel distribution of those assets for their own benefit, held that the Court of Common Pleas did not err in determining that in terminating the payments the commissioner acted illegally or so arbitrarily and unreasonably as to have abused his discretion.
Argued June 14, 1979
Decision released September 4, 1979
Appeal from a decision of the commissioner of the defendant terminating medical assistance payments to the plaintiffs, brought to the Court of Common Pleas in New Haven County and tried to the court, Mancini, J.; judgment sustaining the appeal, from which the defendant appealed to this court. No error.
Michael A. Arcari, assistant attorney general, with whom, on the brief, was Carl R. Ajello, attorney general, for the appellant (defendant).
Peter D. Hershman, for the appellees (plaintiffs).
COTTER, C.J.
This is an appeal from a judgment of the Court of Common Pleas reversing an order of the commissioner of the department of social services terminating medical assistance payments to the plaintiffs, Christine and Rita Zeoli.[1]
The plaintiffs, mentally handicapped women who are
Page 85
incapable of caring for themselves, were placed in a convalescent institution on December 1, 1973, two months after their father’s death. Payment of medical assistance also commenced on December 1, 1973, pursuant to 17-134a of the General Statutes, which authorizes those benefits in accordance with title XIX of the Social Security Act, “Grants to States for Medical Assistance Programs.” 42 U.S.C. § 1396-1396i.
On May 31, 1976, after notice, the payments were terminated. Upon request, a fair hearing was held pursuant to 17-2a of the General Statutes on June 29, 1976. The hearing officer rendered a decision on July 8, 1976, upholding the termination of payments on the ground that the plaintiffs had assets available to them in excess of the permissible limits for medical assistance payments. The assets in question consisted of a joint savings account having a balance of $9515.85 as of November 1, 1975, which was held in the name of the plaintiffs’ brother, Daniel Zeoli, as trustee, with the plaintiffs as beneficiaries.
The Savings account comprises the proceeds from the sale of real property formerly owned by the plaintiffs’ father, Nicola Zeoli. Through his will, Nicola Zeoli devised a one-half interest in this real property to his son, Daniel, and the remaining half was devised to Daniel as trustee for his two sisters, the plaintiffs. Acting in accordance with the powers granted to him in the will and with the approval of the Probate Court, Daniel sold the real property and deposited one-half of the proceeds in the savings bank account in question.
Page 86
The underlying issue before this court is whether the plaintiffs were eligible for title XIX assistance under the pertinent state and federal statutes and regulations. The question of eligibility depends upon whether the savings account constitutes an asset of a spendthrift testamentary trust, whether that trust is intended for general or supplementary support, and whether the restrictions placed on the asset still permit it to be considered an available asset as this concept is defined by state and federal regulations for purposes of granting title XIX payments.
Nicola Zeoli’s intent to create a testamentary trust is clear. In articles third, sixth, and eighth of his will he designated certain assets to be held in trust, appointed a trustee and gave him powers and standards by which to administer and distribute those assets including the power to sell any property in the trust and hold uninvested or reinvest any cash proceeds from such sale, and designated beneficiaries of the trust and remainder persons to receive whatever remains at the death of the beneficiaries.[2] See,
Page 87
generally, 1 Scott on Trusts (2d Ed.) 2.3, pp. 36-37. On May 28, 1974, the Probate Court for the district of Hamden determined that a trust was created and appointed Daniel Zeoli, the testator’s named trustee, to act as trustee. As previously mentioned, pursuant to the powers granted him in the will and with the Probate Court’s approval, Daniel Zeoli sold the real property that constituted the residuary estate of the testator and deposited one-half of the proceeds in a trustee bank account. The bank account, as proceeds of the sale of the realty, must be considered an asset of the testamentary trust and subject to its terms.
Page 88
A trust which creates a fund for the benefit of another, secures it against the beneficiary’s own improvidence, and places it beyond the reach of his creditors is a spendthrift trust. Carter v. Brownell, 95 Conn. 216, 223, 111 A. 182. Section 52-321 of the General Statutes provides that trust fund income is not subject to the claims of creditors of the beneficiary if the trustee is granted the power to accumulate or withhold trust income or if the income has been expressly given for the support of the beneficiary or his family. See Cromwell v. Converse, 108 Conn. 412, 424-25, 143 A. 416; Foley v. Hastings, 107 Conn. 9, 13, 139 A. 305. Since Nicola Zeoli’s will specifically provides the trustee with the power to accumulate and withhold trust income, its language creates a spendthrift trust under 52-321.[3]
The defendant contends that even if a spendthrift trust is created under Nicola Zeoli’s will, the funds are vulnerable to the state’s claim because the intent of the plaintiffs’ father was to create a trust for general support. See, generally, annot., 92 A.L.R.2d 838. Thus, the defendant maintains that the plaintiffs,
Page 89
or someone else on their behalf, have the right to compel the brother, as trustee, to release the trust assets for their care and support and that any refusal to do so would constitute an abuse of discretion under the terms of the will.
The well-settled rule in this state is that the exercise of discretion by the trustee of a spendthrift trust is subject to the court’s control only to the extent that an abuse has occurred under the powers granted by the testamentary disposition. Bridgeport v. Reilly, 133 Conn. 31, 37, 47 A.2d 865; In re Application of Smith, 133 Conn. 6, 11, 47 A.2d 521. To determine the discretionary powers provided, it is necessary to ascertain the dispositive intention as expressed by the language of the entire will “in the light of the circumstances surrounding the testator when the instrument was executed, including the condition of his estate, his relations to his family and beneficiaries and their situation and condition.” Gimbel v. Bernard F. Alva B. Gimbel Foundation, Inc., 166 Conn. 21, 26, 347 A.2d 81. See Rosa v. Palmer, 177 Conn. 10, 13, 411 A.2d 12; Colonial
Page 90
Bank Trust Co. v. Stevens, 164 Conn. 31, 37, 316 A.2d 768; Connecticut Bank Trust Co. v. Lyman, 148 Conn. 273, 279, 170 A.2d 130.
Applying these principles, we find that the testator’s intent was to provide the trustee with sufficient flexibility to use the funds under the trust solely for supplemental support. Both the surrounding circumstances and the language of the will militate in favor of this interpretation. The trust established by Nicola Zeoli’s will clearly recognizes the obvious incapacity of his daughters to care for themselves.[4] As the amount held under trust, approximately one-half of his entire estate,[5] indicates, the plaintiffs’ father was a person of modest means. Presumably, the funds under the trust would not provide for general support of his daughters in an institution for much more than a few months. Moreover, at the time of the will’s execution and at the time of the testator’s death, the daughters were not receiving medical assistance payments and the testator could not know if and how soon such benefits would become available.
The trust created under the testator’s will clearly contemplates the circumstances discussed above. The trust grants the trustee in express terms the power both to discriminate totally against either of the beneficiaries by withholding all income and to disregard funds that might be available to either
Page 91
of the beneficiaries. On the other hand, in precatory language, the trust provides that the trustee apply “the net income or principal of the trust for the maintenance, support, education, health and general welfare of those of my daughters who my Trustee believes would benefit most from a share of the income of this trust after considering the income of the beneficiaries from other sources.”[6]
In granting the trustee the ability to discriminate against either of the beneficiaries as well as to consider other sources of funds available to the beneficiaries, the testator reveals an intent to provide for only the supplementary support of his daughters. The combination of express and precatory terms in the will attempts to grant the trustee flexibility to provide the support that would benefit either of the beneficiaries the most, that is, imposing on the trustee the legal duty to furnish only supplementary support. If the testator had desired to create a trust for general support, it would have been simple to do so and no discriminatory provision would have been necessary or desirable.
The defendant contends that if the testator intended the state to provide medical assistance benefits to his daughters, no spendthrift trust for supplemental support would have been needed and he would have simply devised all of his property to his son. This argument, however, fails to take into account both the testator’s lack of certainty about the availability of welfare payments for his daughters at the time of the execution of his will and the
Page 92
legal duty impressed upon the trustee by the trust to provide for supplementary support. The trust made clear, as no devise solely to his son could, the intent of the testator to provide funds from which some of the personal needs of his daughters could be satisfied.[7]
Since the assets held in the spendthrift trust were not intended for the plaintiffs’ general support, they could not compel their distribution and a refusal of the trustee to make funds available cannot be considered an abuse of his discretion. See Connecticut Bank Trust Co. v. Hurlbutt, 157 Conn. 315, 327, 254 A.2d 460; Bridgeport v. Reilly, 133 Conn. 31, 37-39, 47 A.2d 865; Bridgeport-City Trust Co. v. Beach, 119 Conn. 131, 141, 174 A. 308.
We have previously confronted the issue of abuse of discretion in similar circumstances. In Bridgeport v. Reilly, supra, the city claimed that a testamentary trust was created for the general support of the beneficiary, an insane person, and that the failure to distribute assets from the trust constituted an abuse of discretion. After carefully reviewing the terms of the will and the circumstances surrounding its execution, the court concluded that the testator had intended to create a trust for other than general support and that the trustee was “entitled” to consider other funds available before making any distributions. Bridgeport v. Reilly,
Page 93
supra, 37-39. See Hoops v. Stephan, 131 Conn. 138, 147, 38 A.2d 588; Bridgeport-City Trust Co. v. Beach, supra, 138.
In support of its proposition that the trustee in the present case had abused his discretion and that assets of the trust should be available to beneficiaries sustained by public support, the defendant relies on the Minnesota case of McNiff v. Olmsted County Welfare Department, 176 N.W.2d 888 (Minn.), and a series of lower court decisions in New York. In McNiff, however, the trust at issue was construed to be a general support trust. The Minnesota Supreme Court emphasized that, although the trust had two beneficiaries, it had been expressly drafted to provide for both beneficiaries and the court implied that it might have reached a different result had the trust explicitly granted the trustee the power to discriminate against one of the beneficiaries. Similarly, in the New York cases, the courts construed the provisions of the various trusts in question as implying an intent to provide for general support thus allowing for an invasion of the trust corpus in order to avoid resorting to public assistance. See, e.g., In re Will of Marafioti, 80 Misc.2d 206, 209, 362 N.Y.S.2d 807; In re Estate of Browning, 76 Misc.2d 1041, 1042-43, 352 N.Y.S.2d 769; In re Will of Cooper, 76 Misc.2d 166, 168-69, 349 N.Y.S.2d 613; In re Crow’s Will, 56 Misc.2d 398, 401, 288 N.Y.S.2d 965.
Where the testator’s intent has been interpreted as providing for other than general support for beneficiaries under a trust, however, courts have deemed the trustee’s withholding of funds as not constituting an abuse of discretion even though the beneficiaries’ general support came from public
Page 94
assistance. In re Hinckley’s Estate, 195 Cal.App.2d 164, 170, 15 Cal.Rptr. 570; Town of Randolph v. Roberts, 346 Mass. 578, 580, 195 N.E.2d 72; In re Wright’s Will, 12 Wis.2d 375, 379, 107 N.W.2d 146.
Under applicable federal law, only assets actually available to a medical assistance recipient may be considered by the state in determining eligibility for public assistance programs such as title XIX. 45 C.F.R. § 248.3 (b) (1), recodified and redesignated as 42 C.F.R. § 448.3 (b)(1) (Sept. 30, 1977); 42 U.S.C. § 1396a
(a) (17) (B). A state may not, in administering the eligibility requirements of its public assistance program pursuant to title XIX, either presume the availability of assets not actually available nor add eligibility criteria not expressly authorized by Congress. See, e.g., Philbrook v. Glodgett, 421 U.S. 707, 95 S.Ct. 1893, 44 L.Ed.2d 525; Van Lare v. Hurley, 421 U.S. 338, 95 S.Ct. 1741, 44 L.Ed.2d 208; Burns v. Alcala, 420 U.S. 575, 95 S.Ct. 1180, 43 L.Ed.2d 469; Shea v. Vialpando, 416 U.S. 251, 94 S.Ct. 1746, 40 L.Ed.2d 120; Buckner v. Maher, 424 F. Sup. 366 (D. Conn.), aff’d, 434 U.S. 898, 98 S.Ct. 290, 54 L.Ed.2d 184; Owens v. Roberts, 377 F. Sup. 45 (M.D. Fla.); Wilczynski v. Harder, 323 F. Sup. 509 (D. Conn.); Solman v. Shapiro, 300 F. Sup. 409 (D. Conn.), aff’d, 396 U.S. 5, 90 S.Ct. 25, 24 L.Ed.2d 5; Shook v. Lavine, 49 App.Div.2d 238, 374 N.Y.S.2d 187
. See also Rowland v. Maher, 176 Conn. 57, 61, 404 A.2d 894.
The maximum personal resources a recipient of assistance under title XIX in Connecticut is permitted to own is $250 ($600 may be reserved for burial expenses us well) under the regulations of the department of social services establishing limitations for purposes of both eligibility and
Page 95
continued assistance under title XIX. Connecticut State Department of Income Maintenance Manual, Volume III, supplement D-2, index No. D-244.1, p. 4.[8]
In his decision to terminate the benefits of the plaintiffs, the fair hearing officer applied a provision from the Department of Social Services Manual, Volume I, Chapter III, index No. 323.1 B which states that a bank account “owned by an applicant or beneficiary which has been placed in the control of a trustee must be returned to the sole control of the owner.”
Although the sum in the savings account in question would exceed the asset limitations imposed by the state regulation mentioned above, in light of this court’s previous discussion it is evident that the plaintiffs have never “owned” the funds in the savings account. The plaintiffs cannot compel distribution or in any manner alienate the money in the account beyond that authorized to be distributed as supplementary support in the trustee’s discretion.
The intent of 323.1 B appears to be to foreclose the possibility of individuals creating trusts in order to claim poverty to obtain public support. Only bank accounts owned by the applicants or beneficiaries prior to their transfer to a trust must be returned to the sole control of the owner. Thus, the defendant’s reliance on two cases, Lerner v. Division of Family Services, 70 Wis.2d 670, 235 N.W.2d 478, and Abramson v. Welfare Commissioner, 31 Conn. Sup. 544, 330 A.2d 822, is misplaced.
In Abramson, the plaintiff transferred assets to her daughters in order to qualify for welfare; however, she was not able to show that a valid debt had
Page 96
been incurred. The transfer was thus without consideration and invalid under the state welfare department regulations. Abramson v. Welfare Commissioner, supra, 546-48. The Lerner court also found that the plaintiff had transferred her property without adequate consideration and that this divestment was in contemplation of becoming eligible for public assistance. Lerner v. Division of Family Services, supra, 677. In each case the court looked to the applicants’ previous control or the transferred assets to determine the status of the account. In fact, the Lerner court explicitly asserted that Abramson as well as Lerner are to be distinguished from those cases like the one before this court involving evaluations of applicants’ assets which were unavailable or never had been available to them. Lerner v. Division of Family Services, supra, 679.
The state’s final contention is that public policy requires that the state’s exercise of its welfare eligibility laws not be subject to any power of a trustee or creator of a trust, spendthrift or otherwise, to withhold trust assets from a beneficiary. To create a continuing source of supplemental funds to provide for personal items otherwise unavailable to their incapacitated relatives, many persons have undoubtedly created spendthrift trusts in their wills in accordance with the principles enunciated in. Bridgeport v. Reilly, 133 Conn. 31, 37-39, 47 A.2d 865. These testators are undoubtedly aware that an outright bequest to an incapacitated relative would become an asset within the reach of the state to reimburse it for care rendered.
Two other jurisdictions confronted with this issue have explicitly stated that public policy does
Page 97
not forbid the beneficiary of a private trust from receiving support at public expense. Town of Randolph v. Roberts, 346 Mass. 578, 580, 195 N.E.2d 72; In re Wright’s Will, 12 Wis.2d 375, 379, 107 N.W.2d 146. In In re Wright’s Will, the trust expressly provided that its funds were to be conserved for benefits not provided at public expense. None of the cases cited by the state, which support the proposition that the assets in a general support spendthrift trust may be reached by the government to reimburse it for care rendered to an incapacitated beneficiary, assert a contrary proposition concerning public policy. These cases only state that the particular intent of the testator in question was not that the benevolence of the state be used as the instrument for preserving trust assets. McNiff v. Olmsted County Welfare Department, 176 N.W.2d 888, 891 (Minn.); In re Crow’s Will, 56 Misc.2d 398, 401, 288 N.Y.S.2d 965.
Hence, in view of the factual situation presented to us in this case, it is clear that controlling federal law precludes the commissioner of the department of social services from terminating medical assistance payments under title XIX based upon the joint savings account held in a spendthrift trust for the plaintiffs. The trial court did not err in determining that the commissioner acted illegally or so arbitrarily and unreasonably as to abuse his discretion.
There is no error.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
of the General Statutes are applicable to the present appeal.
Page 98