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Keywords

attorneystatutetrialtrustwillcorporation

jurisdictionattorneypleatrustwill

Related Cases

In re Freudenheim, nan

Facts

Morris Goldberg's will included a provision for the creation of a charitable corporation to support a home for Jewish female minors after the death of his widow. The trustees accepted the will but failed to form the corporation, despite having $225,000 available for the charitable foundation. They contended that the bequest was not a charitable use and violated the statute of perpetuities, while the attorney-general argued for the enforcement of the charitable trust.

The trustees, on their own showing, having ratified the will of their testator by their acceptance of office, are now questioning the validity and effect of a portion of a clause of the testator's will and they have made no effort to carry out its provisions.

Issue

The main legal issue is whether the bequest in Morris Goldberg's will constitutes a valid charitable use and whether the trustees are obligated to form the corporation as intended by the testator.

The questions raised by the pleadings are close and involved and I have thought much about them.

Rule

The court considered the distinction between a gift to a corporation to be formed and a charitable use, noting that a gift to a corporation must vest within two lives in being to be valid, while a charitable use does not require such strict limitations.

The sections of the Code relating to the jurisdiction of the surrogate in matters of this kind are not mandatory and if, for any good reason, the surrogate thinks it inexpedient or unjust to proceed to a judgment I take it that he is at liberty to dismiss the proceeding without prejudice to the parties.

Analysis

The court analyzed the will's language and the intentions of the testator, concluding that the trustees' failure to form the corporation prevented the bequest from being effectuated. The court recognized the ambiguity in whether the bequest constituted a charitable use or merely a gift to a future corporation, which complicated the legal standing of the trustees.

After close examination I confess that this case is embarrassing, and the proper remedy is not clear in this court. Much may be said on either side of the contention. Certainly I do not see my way at the moment, in this proceeding, to accept the view of the learned attorney-general, that a valid charitable use was created.

Conclusion

The court dismissed the petition without prejudice, allowing the parties to address the issues in a future legal proceeding, where a more formal trial could take place.

After mature reflection I have concluded that justice will be better subserved in this matter if I should dismiss the petition, without prejudice and with liberty to the parties to raise all the questions here presented again in any future legal proceeding which may arise, either in this court or elsewhere.

Who won?

The prevailing party is the attorney-general, who opposed the trustees' contention and sought to enforce the charitable intent of the will.

Mr. Attorney-General very properly opposes this contention, and urges that the gift is a charitable use, and that the trust should be enforced in this proceeding.

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