Weston Woman Wins 9/11 Widow Compensation Case

HARTFORD, CT — The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a Weston woman may now have access to the $1.3 million awarded to her daughter after the girl’s father was killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks..

In 2001, the September 11th Victim’s Compensation Fund awarded Carolyne Hynes of Weston $2.4 million for the death of her husband, but $1.3 million of that was allocated for her daughter, with whom she was pregnant.

Hynes, who lived in Norwalk at the time, was appointed the guardian of her child’s estate and administrator of her late husband’s estate in 2003 by the Norwalk Probate Court. At that same time the court appointed a separate guardian to oversee the child’s interests. Consequently, Hynes was barred from using any of the award for her child's upbringing.

According to the opinion filed on Wednesday, the Probate Court reasoned that Hynes had a "common-law duty" to support [her daughter] as long as she possessed the resources to do so,"
and concluded that the child’s assets should not be used for such expenses.

As part of a legal battle that would drag on for 16 years, an appeal by Hynes was dismissed by a Superior Court, and a state Appellate Court affirmed that decision. The state Supreme Court agreed to hear the case last September.

The state Supreme Court overturned the lower court rulings, and Hynes is now free to distribute the $1.3 million the Victim;s Fund awarded her now 17-year-old daughter.