Cummings & Lockwood Successfully Represents 9/11 Widow in Connecticut Supreme Court
April 15, 2019
Cummings & Lockwood LLC attorneys convinced the Connecticut Supreme Court to dismiss Probate Court proceedings restricting our client’s use of funds that had been awarded to her by the September 11th Victim’s Compensation fund for the support of her minor child upon the death of her husband in the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. The unanimous decision by the Connecticut Supreme Court in Hynes v. Jones, 331 Conn. 385 (April 16, 2019), reversed three lower court decisions, which were issued by the Connecticut Appellate Court in July 2017, Connecticut Superior Court in November 2015, and Connecticut Probate Court in June 2014, respectively. Cummings & Lockwood attorneys Mike Kaelin, Doug Olin and William Wright represented the client on a pro bono basis from the initial proceedings in the Probate Court in 2013 through to the Connecticut Supreme Court’s decision on April 16, 2019, with Mike arguing the case in the Connecticut Supreme Court. As set forth in the decision, the Cummings & Lockwood attorneys convinced the Connecticut Supreme Court that the funds awarded to our client by the Victim’s Compensation Fund were neither assets of the deceased husband’s estate or “property” of the minor child subjecting the funds to Probate Court supervision and control, but rather were funds paid directly to our client as a “representative payee” so that she could use the funds to pay for her child’s “current needs” without having to go to court to access the funds.
To read the Connecticut Supreme Court's decision, please view the PDF below:
