Court Opinion

ID: 9931505
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-09 13:01:40.014818+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:22:29.170983
License: Public Domain

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THEODORE VECCHIARINO v. EDWARD B. POTTER,
    TEMPORARY EXECUTOR (ESTATE OF
      MATTHEW R. ISENBURG), ET AL.
               (AC 45758)
                       Prescott, Elgo and Bishop, Js.*

                                  Syllabus

The defendant E, a former romantic partner of the decedent, M, appealed
   to this court from the judgments of the Superior Court approving a
   settlement agreement that resolved a dispute involving the beneficiaries
   of a contested will and M’s heirs-at-law. Prior to the termination of their
   romantic relationship, E had been named a beneficiary in wills executed
   by M in 2003 and 2010. M died in 2016, and the plaintiff, a business
   partner of M, petitioned the Probate Court to admit M’s 2014 will. E
   was neither a named beneficiary under the 2014 will, nor was she an
   heir-at-law. After the petition to admit the 2014 will was filed, certain
   of M’s heirs-at-law objected to its admission and to the appointment of
   the plaintiff as the administrator of the estate. Thereafter, the Probate
   Court issued a written decree in which it concluded that, inter alia, M
   had been unduly influenced in executing the contested 2014 will and
   that, therefore, it should not be admitted to probate. The plaintiff and
   another named beneficiary of the contested will filed separate appeals
   to the Superior Court challenging this decree, which were subsequently
   consolidated. During the pendency of the claims in probate, E filed an
   appearance in the Probate Court as a creditor of M’s estate on the basis
   of claims that she had unsuccessfully brought against M in a civil action
   while he was still alive. The Probate Court denied her creditor claims
   on the grounds that they were barred by res judicata and collateral
   estoppel, and she appealed to the Superior Court, which dismissed the
   appeal. E did not petition the Probate Court to admit either of the wills
   from 2003 or 2010 as the valid and operative will of the decedent. Instead,
   she filed a letter with the Probate Court and attached two Probate Court
   forms with copies of the 2003 and 2010 wills. Thereafter, all beneficiaries
   named in the 2014 will and the heirs-at-law who contested the will
   entered into an agreement in full compliance with the provisions of the
   applicable statute (§ 45a-434 (c)), which fully resolved all the issues
   between those parties with respect to the Probate Court decision on
   the application of the 2014 will and the resulting probate appeals. The
   Superior Court approved the settlement agreement over E’s objection,
   in which she claimed, inter alia, that she was a ‘‘[person] interested in
   the estate’’ for purposes of settlement in accordance with § 45a-434 (c)
   and the agreement could not be approved without her participation and
   consent. Held that the trial court properly found that E had failed to
   establish any interest sufficient to require her participation in the agree-
   ment, as E was neither a named beneficiary of the only will that was
   sought to be admitted to probate and which was the subject of the
   probate appeals, nor was she recognized under intestacy statutes as an
   heir-in-law: contrary to E’s claim that she attempted to have the 2003
   and 2010 wills, in which she was named a beneficiary, admitted via her
   letter sent to the Probate Court, no other application to admit any other
   will of the decedent was before the Probate Court, the Probate Court
   did not treat the defendant’s letter or its attachments as a petition to
   admit the wills to probate and E never raised a claim that the Probate
   Court improperly declined to consider her letter as a petition to admit
   one or both of the wills in any appeal from any of the relevant Probate
   Court decrees; moreover, E’s failure to seek to admit any other will for
   probate rendered her related assertion that her pecuniary interest in the
   estate might have been established through application of the doctrine
   of dependent relative revocation equally inapposite under the facts of
   this case, as the record was inadequate to have concluded that proper
   application of that doctrine would necessarily have revived any will in
   which E had any additional testamentary interest; furthermore, even
   assuming without deciding that persons interested in M’s estate pursuant
   to § 45a-434 (c) could include an appearing creditor of the estate, E
   failed to establish such an interest in M’s estate, as her civil action
   against the decedent, which was initiated prior to his death, was, with
   limited exception, fully and finally resolved against her, and her attempt
   to revive her claims or assert others before the Probate Court were
   rejected, her subsequent appeal from that ruling was dismissed, and,
   accordingly, principles of res judicata barred E from attempting to resur-
   rect her creditor claims via the arguments in this appeal.
     Argued October 5, 2023—officially released February 13, 2024

                           Procedural History

   Appeals from the decree of the Probate Court for the
district of Saybrook denying admission of the will of
Matthew R. Isenburg to probate and appointing Edward
B. Potter as temporary administrator of the estate of
Matthew R. Isenburg, brought to the Superior Court in
the judicial district of Middlesex, where the appeals
were consolidated; thereafter, Danielle P. Ferrucci, the
successor temporary administrator of the Estate of Mat-
thew R. Isenberg, filed motions for approval of a mutual
distribution, release and settlement agreement; subse-
quently, the defendant Elizabeth Isenburg filed an
objection to the motions for approval of the mutual
distribution, release and settlement agreement; there-
after, the court, Hon. Edward S. Domnarski, judge trial
referee, granted the motions for approval of the mutual
distribution, release and settlement agreement, and ren-
dered judgments thereon, from which the defendant
Elizabeth Isenberg appealed to this court. Affirmed.
  Elizabeth Isenburg, self-represented, the appellant
(defendant).
  Christoher J. Cahill, with whom, on the brief, was
Patrick M. Fahey, for the appellee (Danielle P. Ferrucci,
successor temporary administrator of the estate of Mat-
thew R. Isenburg).
                          Opinion

   PRESCOTT, J. Matthew R. Isenburg (decedent) died
on November 14, 2016, at the age of eighty-nine. In the
underlying probate proceedings involving a contest to
his will dated March 13, 2014, the beneficiaries named
in the contested will and the decedent’s heirs-at-law,
who were omitted as beneficiaries from the will,
resolved their dispute regarding its validity by entering
into a mutual distribution, release, and settlement
agreement (settlement agreement) that subsequently
was approved by the Superior Court. In this appeal
from the judgments of the Superior Court approving
the settlement agreement, the defendant Elizabeth Isen-
burg, a former romantic partner of the decedent, who
is neither a named beneficiary under the contested will
nor an heir-at-law of the decedent,1 claims that she is
a ‘‘[person] interested in the estate’’ pursuant to General
Statutes § 45a-434 (c)2 and that the court should not
have approved the settlement agreement without her
participation in it.3 We are not persuaded by her claim
and, accordingly, affirm the judgments of the Supe-
rior Court.
   The following undisputed facts and procedural his-
tory are relevant to this appeal. In 2013, the defendant
initiated a civil action against the decedent, who was
still living at the time, following the breakup of their
relationship (civil action). In that action, she asserted
that the decedent had made gifts and promises to her
that entitled her to recover $6,000,000 in cash, real prop-
erty, and certain personalty from the decedent. Follow-
ing a trial, the court rejected most of her claims, award-
ing only limited relief. She subsequently appealed to
this court, which affirmed the judgment of the trial
court. See Isenburg v. Isenburg, 178 Conn. App. 805,
177 A.3d 583 (2017), cert. denied, 328 Conn. 916, 180
A.3d 963 (2018).
   After the decedent died in August, 2016, the plaintiff,
Theodore Vecchiarino, a business partner of the dece-
dent, petitioned the Probate Court for the district of
Saybrook to admit the decedent’s March 13, 2014 will.
The plaintiff also sought to be appointed as the adminis-
trator of the estate. In addition to the plaintiff, the dece-
dent named in the will as beneficiaries Steven Mossberg,
a long-time business associate of the decedent; Sharon
Goffe, the decedent’s live-in companion and caretaker;
and others.4 The will, however, omitted as beneficiaries
any of the decedent’s heirs-at-law.
  After the petition to admit the will was filed, certain
of the decedent’s heirs-at-law objected to its admission
and to the appointment of the plaintiff as the administrator
of the decedent’s estate.5 These heirs-at-law asserted in
their objection that the March 13, 2014 will was invalid
because of undue influence and that the plaintiff had
misused the decedent’s funds and breached his fiduciary
obligation while serving as the decedent’s attorney-in-fact
under a power of attorney executed by the decedent on
December 20, 2012. The Probate Court appointed Edward
B. Potter to be the temporary administrator of the dece-
dent’s estate.6 The Probate Court conducted multiple evi-
dentiary hearings on these claims.
   On December 26, 2016, while her appeal to this court
from the judgment in the civil action was still pending,
the defendant filed an appearance on her own behalf in
the Probate Court and asserted that she was a creditor
of the decedent’s estate on the basis of her claims that
she unsuccessfully had brought against him in her civil
action (creditor claims). Although she had been named
as a beneficiary in prior wills executed by the decedent
in 2003 and 2010 prior to the termination of their romantic
relationship, the defendant did not petition the Probate
Court to admit any of these wills as the valid and operative
will of the decedent.
   On December 19, 2017, this court affirmed the judgment
of the trial court in the defendant’s civil action brought
against the decedent. Isenburg v. Isenburg, supra, 178
Conn. App. 820. Our Supreme Court subsequently denied
her petition for certification to appeal, thereby ending her
attempts to recover against the decedent directly. See
Isenburg v. Isenburg, 328 Conn. 916, 180 A.3d 963 (2018).
   On July 27, 2018, the Probate Court issued a written
decree in which it concluded that the decedent had been
unduly influenced in executing the contested will and
that, therefore, it should not be admitted to probate. It
also found that certain transfers that the plaintiff made
pursuant to the power of attorney were void and must
be returned to the decedent’s estate. The plaintiff and
Goffe filed separate appeals to the Superior Court chal-
lenging this decree.7 These actions subsequently were con-
solidated.
   On January 15, 2020, the Probate Court issued a written
decree denying the defendant’s creditor claims on the
ground that they were barred by res judicata and collateral
estoppel because they had been asserted unsuccessfully
(or could have been asserted) in her civil action against the
decedent while he was still alive. The defendant nominally
appealed that decree to the Superior Court. See Isenburg
v. Vecchiarino, Superior Court, judicial district of Middle-
sex, Docket No. CV-XX-XXXXXXX-S (February 21, 2020).
Instead of reasserting those creditor claims, however, the
defendant raised different claims against the plaintiff and
others, alleging that they had interfered with agreements
between her and the decedent. That appeal ultimately was
dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because
it did not seek review of the decree from which the defen-
dant appealed and, thus, was beyond the scope of a proper
probate appeal.
  On June 1, 2022, in the underlying consolidated probate
appeals, Attorney Danielle P. Ferrucci, as temporary
administrator of the decedent’s estate, filed identical
motions for approval of the settlement agreement that
had been executed by all the various parties interested
in the decedent’s estate as named beneficiaries under the
challenged will or as heirs-at-law. The defendant did not
participate in the settlement negotiations or join the settle-
ment agreement that formed the basis of the motions.
   Pursuant to the terms of the settlement agreement, the
parties, among other things, agreed that the decedent’s
March 3, 2014 will would not be admitted to probate and
that the estate would be administered as intestate. The
plaintiff and Goffe agreed to make payments to the estate
in exchange for the withdrawal of certain monetary claims
against them. They also agreed that they would waive
any interest in the estate. Finally, the agreement set forth
the distribution and division of the estate to the heirs-at-
law in various percentages.
   The self-represented defendant objected to the motions
for approval of the settlement agreement because she
was not a party to it. The precise grounds of her objection
are difficult to discern, but it appears that she asserted
three primary grounds as to why the settlement agreement
should not be approved without her participation. First,
she relied on the fact that she appeared and participated as
an interested party in the underlying probate proceedings.
Second, she appeared to claim that certain assets of the
decedent fraudulently were transferred into the estate
and should not be treated as assets of the estate but, in
fact, belonged to her. Finally, she appeared to contend
that the doctrine of dependent relative revocation8 applied
and that she is a named beneficiary under a prior will.
On the basis of these contentions, she argued that she is
a ‘‘[person] interested in the estate’’ pursuant to § 45a-434
(c) and that the settlement agreement cannot be approved
in the absence of her participation and consent to it.
   On August 17, 2022, the Superior Court, Hon. Edward
S. Domnarski, judge trial referee, approved the settlement
agreement over the objection of the defendant.9 In a mem-
orandum of decision, the court concluded that the defen-
dant’s mere participation in the underlying Probate Court
proceedings did not, by itself, give rise to an interest in
the estate within the meaning of § 45a-434 (c).10 The court
also reasoned that the defendant never challenged the
admission of the May 13, 2014 will nor did she seek to
admit for probate any earlier will under which she could
claim an interest as a beneficiary. Under these circum-
stances, the court found that the defendant’s status as a
potential beneficiary of the decedent’s estate was too
remote to bring her within the scope of ‘‘persons inter-
ested in the estate’’ for purposes of settlement in accor-
dance with § 45a-434 (c). The court concluded: ‘‘In these
probate appeals, the circle of possible ‘persons interested
in the estate’ are the beneficiaries under the decedent’s
March 13, 2014 will, the parties who appealed the Probate
Court decision related to that will—notably, also benefici-
aries under that will—and the decedent’s heirs-at-law. All
of those parties, and the successor temporary administra-
tor, have agreed to the mutual distribution of the dece-
dent’s estate. [The defendant] is an outsider to the mutual
distribution proceedings.’’ The court, accordingly, granted
the motions for approval of the settlement agreement.
This appeal followed.
   The sole claim raised by the defendant on appeal is
that the Superior Court improperly granted the motions
for approval of the settlement agreement because she
was among the ‘‘persons interested in the estate’’ for pur-
poses of § 45a-434 (c) and, therefore, any agreement
reached without her participation was invalid. We agree
with the Superior Court that the defendant failed to estab-
lish any interest sufficient to require her participation in
the agreement. Accordingly, we reject her claim.11
   We begin with our standard of review. To the extent that
the defendant’s claim ‘‘presents a question of statutory
interpretation, our review is plenary. . . . The process
of statutory interpretation involves the determination of
the meaning of the statutory language as applied to the
facts of the case. . . . When construing a statute, [o]ur
fundamental objective is to ascertain and give effect to the
apparent intent of the legislature. . . . In other words,
we seek to determine, in a reasoned manner, the meaning
of the statutory language as applied to the facts of [the]
case.’’ (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omit-
ted.) Falvey v. Zurolo, 130 Conn. App. 243, 249, 22 A.3d
682 (2011).
  Section 45a-434 (c) sets forth procedures by which
parties may agree on the division of a contested estate.
As previously noted, § 45a-434 (c) provides in relevant
part: ‘‘Whenever there has been a contest with respect to
the validity, admissibility to probate or construction of a
will, if all persons interested in the estate, including per-
sons interested as contestants or fiduciaries acting on
behalf of a contestant, make and file in the court an
agreement as to the division of the estate, in writing,
executed and acknowledged in the same manner as pro-
vided for conveyances of land in section 47-5, such agree-
ment shall be a valid division of the estate if approved
by the Court of Probate. Any such fiduciary may petition
the court of probate which appointed him for permission
to enter into such an agreement. The court of probate
may grant such petition or may deny such petition. . . .’’12
   In the present case, an agreement in full compliance
with the provisions of § 45a-434 (c) was reached between
all beneficiaries named in the March 13, 2014 will and the
heirs-at-law of the decedent, who contested the will. The
agreement fully resolved all issues between those parties
with respect to the July 27, 2018 Probate Court decision
on the application to admit the March 13, 2014 will and
the resulting probate appeals. In other words, all of the
parties affected and having a direct interest in the distribu-
tion of the decedent’s estate vis--vis the March 13, 2014
will have agreed to a mutual distribution of the estate
assets. The defendant maintains that she is also a member
of the group that comprises ‘‘all persons interested in the
estate’’ and that, therefore, she was a necessary party to
any agreement.
   No appellate court definitively has construed the term
‘‘all persons interested in the estate’’ as used in § 45a-434
(c) or set forth an exhaustive list of those persons or
entities intended by that term. Nevertheless, given that
the clear and obvious purpose of the statute is to facilitate
the settlement of a dispute amongst ‘‘devisees, legatees
or heirs’’; General Statutes § 45a-434 (b); for the purpose
of reaching a mutual agreement regarding distribution of
the estate, ‘‘persons interested in the estate’’; General
Statutes § 45a-434 (c); certainly must include any party
entitled to some distributive portion of the estate, whether
through the will or, if the will were invalidated, by intes-
tacy. See Green v. King, 104 Conn. 97, 103–104, 132 A.
411 (1926) (indicating that necessary parties for mutual
distribution agreement to resolve contest involving will
codicil were beneficiaries and heirs with pecuniary inter-
est in distribution).
   Section 45a-434 (c) also states that ‘‘persons interested
in the estate’’ expressly include those parties contesting
the admissibility or construction of a will. Logically, a
person with a claim to a distributive portion of an estate
arguably also could include a creditor of the estate or
other person with a colorable claim to a portion of the
estate’s undistributed assets. In the present case, however,
it is unnecessary for us to construe more definitively
the term ‘‘persons interested in the estate’’ because the
defendant has failed to demonstrate that she has any
distributive interest in the estate that would warrant her
inclusion as of right in any settlement negotiations. In
short, we agree with the Superior Court that the defendant
has failed to establish that she has some pecuniary inter-
est, as contemplated under the relevant statutory scheme,
that would require her participation in the agreement
regarding mutual distribution of the decedent’s estate. We
reach this conclusion for the following reasons.
  First, it is undisputed that the defendant is neither a
named beneficiary of the only will that was admitted to
probate and which was the subject of the two probate
appeals, nor is she recognized under our intestacy statutes
as an heir-at-law.13 The defendant contends that she did,
in fact, attempt to have earlier wills in which she had
been named a beneficiary admitted when she sent a letter
dated May 29, 2018, to the Probate Court. As found by
the Superior Court, however, no other application to admit
any other will of the decedent was before the Probate
Court.
   The defendant attached two Probate Court forms to
her May 29, 2018 letter, one form PC-211 for each copy
of the decedent’s 2003 and 2010 wills. Probate Court form
PC-211 is entitled ‘‘Affidavit for Filing Will Not Submitted
for Probate’’ and contains an instruction that ‘‘[a]ny person
may use this form to file original will(s) and codicils(s),
if any, when the will is not being submitted for probate.’’
The defendant could have sought to have these prior wills
admitted for probate by filing them with Probate Court
form PC-200, which is entitled ‘‘Petition/Administration
or Probate of Will,’’ and contains an instruction that ‘‘[a]ny
person may use this form to petition the court for adminis-
tration or probate of a will and the appointment of an
administrator or executor.’’
  The Probate Court did not treat the defendant’s May
29, 2018 letter or its attachments as a petition to admit
the wills to probate and she never raised a claim that the
Probate Court improperly had declined to treat her letter
as a petition to admit one or both of the wills in any
appeal from any of the relevant Probate Court decrees.
Finally, we note that the defendant appears to have con-
ceded before the Superior Court that she never sought
to have admitted for probate any of the wills in which
she is named as a beneficiary but, instead, blamed the
plaintiff for neglecting to complete and file a form PC-200.
   Second, the defendant’s failure to seek to admit any
other will for probate renders the defendant’s related
assertion that her pecuniary interest in the estate may be
established through application of the doctrine of depen-
dent relative revocation equally inapposite. ‘‘The gist of
the doctrine [of dependent relative revocation] is that if
a testator cancels or destroys a will with a present inten-
tion of making a new one immediately and as a substitute
and the new will is not made or, if made, fails of effect
for any reason, it will be presumed that the testator pre-
ferred the old will to intestacy, and the old one will be
admitted to probate in the absence of evidence overcom-
ing the presumption. . . . The rule has been more simply
stated in these words: [W]here the intention to revoke is
conditional and where the condition is not fulfilled, the
revocation is not effective. . . . [The doctrine of depen-
dent relative revocation] is a rule of presumed intention
rather than of substantive law . . . and is applicable in
cases of partial as well as total revocation. . . . That it
can only apply when there is a clear intent of the testator
that the revocation of the old is made conditional upon
the validity of the new is well [settled].’’ (Citations omitted;
internal quotation marks omitted.) La Croix v. Senecal,
140 Conn. 311, 315, 99 A.2d 115 (1953).
   Moreover, the modern approach to this common-law
doctrine generally is to apply it only in cases in which
relatively minor changes exist between the old and new
wills, rather than wholesale changes in testamentary pur-
pose. See id., 317 (noting invalid codicil at issue made
‘‘very minor change’’ to original will); Watson v. Landvat-
ter, 517 S.W.2d 117, 122 (Mo. 1974) (en banc) (holding
that doctrine was inapplicable in case in which ‘‘family
situation had changed radically between the time of the
execution of the original will and the date of the alter-
ations’’); see also 95 C.J.S. 378–79, Wills § 408 (2022) (‘‘if
a substantial disparity in the terms of the two instruments
reflects the testator’s disfavor of the original will, it cannot
be concluded that the testator would have preferred for
the original will to control the distribution of the estate
in the event that the subsequent will proves ineffective’’).
Accordingly, the doctrine of dependent relative revoca-
tion, although widely recognized, must be applied nar-
rowly and with caution. 95 C.J.S., supra, p. 379.
   There is simply no proper legal application of the doc-
trine of dependent relative revocation under the facts of
the present case. The Superior Court made an undisputed
finding that the decedent executed eight different wills
between 2003 and 2014. First, as we have previously indi-
cated, the only will that properly was before the Probate
Court was the March 13, 2014 will. Accordingly, if the
Superior Court were to agree with the Probate Court’s
determination that the March 13, 2014 will was invalid
due to undue influence, it is unclear which of the earlier
wills, if any, would be revived for administration if the
doctrine of dependent relative revocation were deemed
applicable or whether distribution of the estate would,
by necessity, proceed under our intestacy statutes. In
other words, the record is simply inadequate to conclude
that proper application of the doctrine of dependent rela-
tive revocation would necessarily revive any will in which
the defendant had any additional testamentary interest.
Furthermore, even if any will in which the defendant was
named a beneficiary were properly before the Probate
Court, it is clear that such a will would not properly be
admitted and revived under the doctrine of dependent
relative revocation because the decedent, rather than
making only relatively minor changes to his will, mani-
fested a clear and significant change in testamentary pur-
pose by completely removing the defendant as a benefi-
ciary following the end of their romantic relationship. It
would strain logic to conclude that the decedent would
have preferred an earlier will to control the distribution
of his estate rather than intestacy. Accordingly, we reject
the defendant’s suggestion that she retains an interest in
the estate because she was a named beneficiary in an
earlier revoked will.
   Finally, even assuming without deciding that ‘‘persons
interested in the estate’’ could include an appearing credi-
tor of the estate or someone with a similarly colorable
pecuniary interest therein, the defendant has failed to
establish such an interest in the decedent’s estate. Her
civil action against the decedent, which was initiated prior
to his death, was, with limited exception, fully and finally
resolved against her. See Isenburg v. Isenburg, supra, 178
Conn. App. 805. Her attempt to revive her claims or to
assert others before the Probate Court was squarely
rejected, and her subsequent appeal from that ruling was
dismissed. Principles of res judicata thus bar the defen-
dant from attempting to resurrect her creditor claims via
her arguments in these probate appeals.
   In short, having thoroughly reviewed the record and
briefs in this matter, we reject all of the defendant’s vari-
ous arguments advanced to establish that she was a neces-
sary party to the underlying settlement agreement.
Accordingly, we conclude that the Superior Court prop-
erly approved it.
   The judgments are affirmed.
   In this opinion the other judges concurred.
   * The listing of judges reflects their seniority status on this court as of the
date of oral argument.
   1
     Elizabeth Isenburg and the decedent never married. In fact, the decedent
remained married to Elinor Isenburg until his death. Nevertheless, the defendant
legally changed her name from Elizabeth Soderberg to Elizabeth Isenburg.
   2
     General Statutes § 45a-434 (c) provides in relevant part: ‘‘Whenever there
has been a contest with respect to the validity, admissibility to probate or
construction of a will, if all persons interested in the estate, including persons
interested as contestants or fiduciaries acting on behalf of a contestant, make
and file in the court an agreement as to the division of the estate, in writing,
executed and acknowledged in the same manner as provided for conveyances
of land in section 47-5, such agreement shall be a valid division of the estate
if approved by the Court of Probate. Any such fiduciary may petition the court
of probate which appointed him for permission to enter into such an agreement.
The court of probate may grant such petition or may deny such petition. . . .’’
   3
     The following parties were named as defendants in the underlying probate
appeals: Edward B. Potter, as temporary executor of the decedent’s estate;
Edward Isenburg; Mark Isenburg, both individually and as conservator for
Elinor Isenburg’s estate; Sharon Goffe; Steven Isenburg; Steven Mossberg;
Michael Lloyd; Andrew Isenburg; and Lynn Heckett. We refer to Elizabeth
Isenburg as the defendant and to the other defendants by name when necessary.
   4
     The other named beneficiaries are Steven Isenburg, Michael Lloyd, and
Andrew Isenburg.
   5
     These heirs-at-law included Elinor Isenburg, the decedent’s surviving
spouse; and Lynn Heckett, the daughter of the decedent and Elinor Isenburg.
   6
     Potter died on April 2, 2021. In a decree dated May 5, 2021, the Probate
Court appointed Attorney Danielle P. Ferrucci as the successor temporary
administrator of the estate.
   7
     Other civil actions were also commenced in the Superior Court against
individuals alleged to have participated in or benefited from a dissipation of
the decedent’s estate. See Potter v. Vecchiarino, Superior Court, judicial district
of Middlesex, Docket No. CV-XX-XXXXXXX-S; Isenburg v. Vecchiarino, Superior
Court, judicial district of Middlesex, Docket No. CV-XX-XXXXXXX-S. The dece-
dent’s daughter, Lynn Heckett, also brought a tort action against the estate
asserting that the decedent had engaged in intentional and negligent infliction
of emotional distress toward her. Heckett v. Potter, Superior Court, judicial
district of Middlesex, Docket No. CV-XX-XXXXXXX-S.
   8
     The doctrine of dependent relative revocation provides that if a testator
revokes a prior will by executing a new will and the new will is not effective
for any reason, then ‘‘it [shall] be presumed that the testator preferred the old
will to intestacy, and the old one [shall] be admitted to probate in the absence
of evidence overcoming the presumption.’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.)
Churchill v. Allessio, 51 Conn. App. 24, 27, 719 A.2d 913, cert. denied, 247
Conn. 951, 723 A.2d 324 (1998).
   9
     Although § 45a-434 (c) provides in relevant part that a settlement agreement
executed in accordance with all statutory requirements is valid ‘‘if approved
by the Court of Probate,’’ the Superior Court had the authority to act on the
motion for approval given the procedural posture of this case, and we reject
the defendant’s arguments to the contrary. It is axiomatic that, ‘‘[w]hen enter-
taining an appeal from an order or decree of a Probate Court, the Superior
Court takes the place of and sits as the court of probate. . . . In ruling on a
probate appeal, the Superior Court exercises the powers, not of a constitutional
court of general or [common-law] jurisdiction, but of a Probate Court.’’ (Empha-
sis added; internal quotations marks omitted.) Salce v. Cardello, 348 Conn. 90,
103, 301 A.3d 1031 (2023). Given that the settlement agreement in the present
consolidated cases was reached and approval was sought within the confines
of two valid probate appeals, the Superior Court, exercising the powers of a
Probate Court, had the necessary authority to approve it.
   10
      The court reasoned as follows: ‘‘The appearance [the defendant] filed in
the Probate Court allowed [her] to receive notice of, and perhaps participate
in, the subject probate proceedings. Having filed an appearance in the Probate
Court, she was served notice of the two probate appeals filed in this court.
[The defendant] did file appearances in the two probate appeals. Those appear-
ances alone do not transform and elevate her status as a party interested in
the probate and appeal proceedings, to a party that is interested in the estate
for purposes of a mutual distribution.’’ (Emphasis omitted.)
   11
      The appellee, Attorney Ferrucci, acting in her role as successor temporary
administrator, urges us to decline to review the defendant’s claim as inade-
quately briefed. It is axiomatic that appellate courts ‘‘are not required to review
issues that have been improperly presented to this court through an inadequate
brief.’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Burton v. Dept. of Environmental
Protection, 337 Conn. 781, 803, 256 A.3d 655 (2021). Although we agree that
the defendant’s brief is hardly a model of clarity, and that it contains a sparsity
of relevant analysis, we nevertheless conclude that it manages to cross the
requisite minimum threshold of adequacy to warrant our review of the
asserted claim.
   12
      As the Superior Court indicated in its memorandum of decision approving
the parties’ agreement in this matter, ‘‘[m]utual distribution agreements are
favored in probate appeals involving distribution of estates.’’ The rationale is
that ‘‘[t]he result [of a mutual agreement between all interested parties] is that
which the law was ready and seeking to accomplish; that which it had provided
the machinery to accomplish. That the result has been obtained without a
resort to the machinery, creates no legal irregularity upon which the law puts
the stamp of its disapproval.’’ Merwin’s Appeal from Probate, 75 Conn. 33, 37,
52 A. 484 (1902).
   13
      An ‘‘heir-at-law’’ or ‘‘legal heir’’ is a person ‘‘who would have been entitled
to inherit from [the deceased] under our statutes of distribution, had he died
intestate.’’ Daniels v. Daniels, 115 Conn. 239, 240–41, 161 A. 94 (1932); see
General Statutes §§ 45a-425 through 45a-457 (statutes of distribution).