Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill v. Unknown & Unascertained Heirs of Prince
Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill v. Unknown & Unascertained Heirs of Prince
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
In my opinion the reformation of the trust provision involved in this appeal is not authorized by G.S. 36A-53, and if it was that reformation nevertheless should not be granted at plaintiffs behest, because of its unequitable conduct in the premises.
Article IX of testatrix’s will, as I read it, manifested the intention to devote the funds involved only to constructing a building for the Carolina Playmakers, and I see nothing in the provision, as distinguished from other provisions of the will, which manifested “a general intention to devote the property to charity,” as the statute requires. The cy pres doctrine “may not be used to turn a narrow and particular charitable intent into a general charitable intent.” Bogert, Trusts and Trustees, 2d Ed.,
My vote, therefore, is to reverse the judgment appealed from and to direct the plaintiff appellee to convey the funds involved to the defendants.
Opinion of the Court
Defendants contend that the court erred in reforming, pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 36A-53, the Lillian Hughes Prince Charitable Trust. N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 36A-53(a), the Charitable Trusts Administration Act, provides in pertinent part that:
[i]f a trust for charity is or becomes illegal, or impossible or impracticable of fulfillment . . . and if the settlor, or testator, manifested a general intention to devote the property to charity, any judge of the superior court may . . . order an administration of the trust, devise or bequest as nearly as possible to fulfill the manifested general charitable intention of the settlor or testator.
It is not disputed that the trust created by Mrs. Prince is a charitable trust as it is created for a lawful purpose which promotes the well being of mankind and does not contravene public policy. Rather, defendants contend in Assignment of Error Nos. 1 and 2 that the court erred in finding that the charitable bequest was impractical and impossible of fulfillment, and in finding that Mrs. Prince manifested a general charitable intent in said bequest.
In support of their contention that the court erred in finding Mrs. Prince manifested a general charitable intent in her bequest, defendants cite Wilson v. Church, 284 N.C. 284, 200 S.E. 2d 769 (1973), the only case in which the Supreme Court has addressed the issue of whether a testator has manifested general charitable intent. In Wilson, the Court said the Superior Court has authority to modify a charitable trust that has become impracticable to fulfill only when “the instrument creating the trust, interpreted in the light of all the circumstances known to the settlor or testator, manifests a general intention to devote the property to charity.” Id. at 300, 200 S.E. 2d at 779 (citations omitted). Thus, in the present case, we must determine if Mrs. Prince manifested such intent in her will construed as a whole. The Court in Wilson held that where the testatrix bequeathed property to the First
We find the case cited by defendant distinguishable from the present one. Unlike the testator in Wilson, Mrs. Prince did not manifest a narrow and particular charitable intent in her will. She did not indicate that only a particular purpose was intended by her, or that she would have preferred to have the whole trust fail if the purpose was impossible of accomplishment.
The evidence tends to show that Mrs. Prince was closely involved with the Carolina Playmakers, which is a University organization whose purpose is the production and performance of dramatic art. Both Mrs. Prince and her husband actively participated in the productions of this organization. Mrs. Prince had leading roles in at least five of these productions. Throughout its history and extending beyond the time of Mrs. Prince’s death, the Carolina Playmakers suffered from a lack of adequate theatre facilities.
In reviewing the will of Mrs. Prince, we see she made several bequests to charity. Mrs. Prince bequeathed to the Friends of the Library of the University her property rights arising from a book written by her husband. She left to the University’s Art Department all of her husband’s illustrations, correspondence, art books, proofs, sketches and other memorabilia. She established at the Boston Museum School of Art a perpetual fund to provide graduate scholarships to students enrolled in the Art Department at the University of North Carolina. Mrs. Prince also made specific bequests to her mother, her sister, and certain friends, all of which were conditioned on such persons surviving her. The residuary estate was bequeathed to the University as provided in Article IX, and there is no provision for reversion or gift over if the trust fails. This evidence is sufficient to support the court’s finding that Mrs. Prince manifested a general charitable intent in her will.
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.