Brown v. Great Northern Railway Co.

SPENCE, J. This is an appeal from a judgment of distribution whereby bequests to certain pension funds were declared invalid and the property so bequeathed was held to escheat to the State of California for want of heirs. (Prob. Code, § 231.) The appealing legatees contend that the respective bequests are charitable in purpose and should be so enforced by appropriate order. Their position is well taken in the light of the record and the applicable law determinative of the validity of charitable gifts.

William Tarrant died on January 13, 1946, a resident of the county of Los Angeles, this state. His last will was duly admitted to probate and the public administrator was appointed administrator with the will annexed. After paying all debts and providing for all charges and expenses of administration, the administrator filed his first and final account and report, and petitioned for instructions relative to the distribution of the residue of the estate ($6,213.59 in money). So presented for construction were the provisions of the will whereby the testator bequeathed his estate in equal one-third shares to (1) the “Pension Fund of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company of the Dominion of Canada, with General Offices at Montreal, Canada”; (2) the “Pension Fund of the Great Northern Railway Company, a corporation, with head offices at St. Paul, Minnesota”; and (3) the “Pension Fund of the Railroad Retirement Board with Headquarters at Washington, D.C., which fund is administered by the Treasury Department of the United States Government,” with the added proviso that if the said board could not accept, its one-third should go to the other “two Pension Boards ... in equal parts.” After a hearing, the probate court held that the bequests were noncharitable in nature, that the claimant [46]legatees were ineligible to take by will under Probate Code, section 27, and that the property should escheat to the state. Prom the judgment accordingly entered, the legatees appeal, contending that the court misconstrued the purport of the bequests and erroneously applied the cited statute.

“ Courts look with favor upon all attempted charitable donations, and will endeavor to carry them into effect if it can be done consistently with the rules of law. A bequest intended as a charity is not void, and there is no authority to construe it to be legally void, if it can possibly be made good. ’ ’ (Estate of Hinckley, 58 Cal. 457, 513; Collier v. Lindley, 203 Cal. 641, 654 [266 P. 526]; Estate of Bunn, 33 Cal.2d 897, 903 [206 P.2d 635]; see 14 C.J.S. § 6a, p. 427.) Since the enactment of the Statute of Charitable Uses in 1601 (43 Eliz. c. 4; 7 Pickering’s Eng. Stats, p. 43), provisions for the “supportation, aid and help of young tradesmen, handicrafts-men and persons decayed” have been recognized as charitable in their design to “accomplish objects which are beneficial to the community.” (Rest., Trusts, § 368.) The scope of the word “charity” changes and enlarges with the needs of men and must advance with the progress of civilization so as to encompass varying wants of humanity properly coming within its spirit. (People v. Dashaway Assn., 84 Cal. 114, 122 [24 P. 277, 12 L.R.A. 1177] ; Rest., Trusts, § 374.) It is the policy of the law to favor gifts for charitable purposes, and a will providing such gifts will be liberally construed in order to accomplish the intent of the donor. (Estate of Yule, 57 Cal.App.2d 652, 654 [135 P.2d 386] ; see, also, 14 C.J.S. § 11, p. 437; Estate of McDole, 215 Cal. 328, 335 [10 P.2d 75]; Estate of DeMars, 20 Cal.App.2d 514, 517 [67 P.2d 374].) Consistent with these principles, the validity of the challenged bequests as charitable trusts appears beyond dispute.