Godburn v. Meserve
Connecticut Supreme Court
37 A.2d 235 (1944)
76-year-old Carrie Wells contracted with her longtime neighbor and tenant, Godburn (plaintiff), to live together with Godburn providing meals and care in exchange for reduced rent and a promise that Wells would leave him her house in her will if he cared for her until her death; after two years, Godburn grew frustrated with Wells's frequent complaints about the house and meals and her attempts to prevent him from leaving on weekends or vacations, and he moved out entirely in August 1941, providing no further services. Wells revoked her will and died the following year; Godburn sued Meserve, the estate's executor (defendant), to enforce the original agreement, arguing Wells's behavior made continued performance impossible, and the jury found for Godburn, with Meserve appealing.
Whether an elderly contracting party's increasingly demanding and unpleasant behavior toward her caretaker, where that behavior was foreseeable given her known age and personality, excuses the caretaker's own subsequent abandonment of his contractual obligations.