Ruotolo v. Tietjen
Appellate Court of Connecticut
890 A.2d 166 (2006)
John N. Swanson's will left half of his residuary estate to his stepdaughter, Hazel Brennan, "if she survives me," but Brennan died 17 days before Swanson, survived by her daughter, Kathleen Smaldone (defendant). Swanson's heirs-at-law (plaintiffs) challenged Smaldone's right, under Connecticut's antilapse statute, to receive the bequest Brennan would have gotten had she survived Swanson; that statute lets a predeceased devisee's issue take the gift unless the will makes provision for the contingency that the devisee might die first. The lower court found the "if she survives me" language itself was such a provision, making the antilapse statute inapplicable, and Smaldone appealed.
Whether a devise's survivorship language, such as "if she survives me," adequately indicates that the testator intended to negate operation of the antilapse statute.