Estate of Connolly

California Court of Appeal Apr 29, 1975 No. 43710Published

Before: Cobey

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Holding. The court held that a bequest to a nonprofit corporation formed for the educational purpose of furthering agnosticism constitutes a charitable trust, allowing for the appointment of a successor trustee under the cy pres doctrine upon the original corporation's failure.

Issues

Whether a bequest to a nonprofit corporation organized to further the cause of agnosticism constitutes a charitable trust.
Whether a gift to a charitable corporation requires express technical words of trust to be valid.
Whether the trial court had subject matter jurisdiction to determine the successor trustee via a petition for instructions.

Disposition. affirmed

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“A corporation whose purpose is educational is a charitable corporation.”

“In California and apparently elsewhere a gift to a charitable corporation is regarded as being in trust for the accomplishment of its charitable purpose or purposes and no technical words of trust need be used to accomplish this result.”

48 Cal.App.3d 129 (1975) 121 Cal. Rptr. 325 Estate of ARTHUR J. CONNOLLY, Deceased.

EDGAR C. STEEVES, as Executor, etc., Petitioner and Respondent,

BETTY STILES et al., Claimants and Appellants

WORLD'S AGNOSTIC GROUPS et al., Contestants and Respondents.

Docket No. 43710. Court of Appeals of California, Second District, Division Three.

April 29, 1975. [130] COUNSEL

Victor S. Amstadter and Steven Edmondson for Claimants and Appellants.

No appearance for Petitioner and Respondent.

Evelle J. Younger, Attorney General, Geoffrey S. Cantrell, Deputy Attorney General, Hodges, Emmons & Walther and Henry W. Walther for Contestants and Respondents.

[131] OPINION

COBEY, J.

Claimants, Betty Stiles and Barbara Simmons, nieces and sole heirs-at-law of Arthur J. Connolly, deceased, appeal from an order, upon a petition for instructions filed by the executor of the last will of Connolly, determining Ethical Culture Society of Los Angeles to be the successor charitable trustee of the residue of the estate of Connolly.[1] The appeal lies. (Prob. Code, § 1240.)

This appeal presents the fundamental question of what was Connolly's intent in leaving his entire estate of cash and securities by will specifically to World's Agnostics Groups (WAG), a nonprofit California corporation.[2] (See Prob. Code, § 101.) Claimants assert that because of the specific designation of the legatee and because no technical words of trust were used, the testator intended only a gift to WAG and nothing more and WAG being no longer a viable corporation, the gift to it failed and claimants are entitled to receive the residue of the testator's estate by intestate succession pursuant to Probate Code section 225.[3] The Attorney General, as the supervisor of charitable trusts in this state, rejoins that

Estate of Connolly

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COBEY, J.

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