82 Neb. 85 | Neb. | 1908
This case was submitted to the district court on an agreed statement of facts. Judgment went in favor of the defendants, and the plaintiffs have taken an appeal to this court.
The facts appearing from the stipulation are as follows: November 29, 1884, John Fitzgerald conveyed to the Sisters of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, a Nebraska corporation, a block of land located at Fourteenth and U streets, in the city of Lincoln. The granting part of the deed is in the following language: “Know all men by these presents, that John Fitzgerald and Mary Fitzgerald, his wife, of the county of Lancaster, and state
The petition alleges that plaintiffs belong to the class specified in the deed, and they pray a cancelation of the reconveyance by the grantee to the heirs of John Fitzgerald; that the sale be enjoined and a trustee appointed for the purpose, and with power under the direction and
On tlie part of the plaintiffs, it is claimed: First, that the deed from Fitzgerald, together with the modifications thereafter made in its terms, created a charitable trust; second, that any person having children eligible to attend the schools is a beneficiary of the trust who may maintain an action for its enforcement; third, that the last-executed instrument, spoken of as the modification, giving the grantee in the deed power to sell and convey, destroyed the provision in the original deed providing for a reversion; and, finally, that a charitable trust will not be permitted to fail for want of a trustee, nor because of the failure or refusal of the trustee to carry out the object of the trust.
If we concede the first proposition, that the conveyance made by Fitzgerald created a charitable trust, the other contentions of the plaintiffs may be conceded. The material question for our consideration, therefore, arises upon the construction to be given the conditions in the deed. It will be borne in mind that the conveyance was made to a corporation. The general purposes of the corporation, as set forth in the second paragraph of its charter, were “To promote education among ‘ all classes of females, and to acquire by purchase, gift, grant or devise, and hold, use and convey any real estate or personal property whatever, and lease or mortgage the same, or use the same in any manner considered by the corporation most conducive to its interest and property.” The general rule appears to be that, where property is conveyed directly to a corporation to hold for purposes for which the corporation was created, no trust for the benefit of others arises. There are no apt words in the deed to create a trust, or making the grantee a trustee of the property. On the contrary, it is evident that the grantor intended to vest the legal title absolutely in the corporation for use in its cor
The same question was before the supreme court of Maryland, in Bennett v. Baltimore Humane Impartial Society, 91 Md. 10, 45 Atl. 888. In that case one Turbutt devised to the society certain of his estate, conditioned that the trustees or managers should admit one aged man or woman each and every year during its continuance for every $400 of the income derived from the property, and that such aged person should not be required to pay any fee for admission or outfit. The regular admission fee ranged from $200 to $700, according to age and residence. The thorough consideration given the case by the court is epitomized in the syllabus as follows: “A charitable corporation was named as devisee and legatee in a will, providing that it admit one aged man or woman each year for each $400 of income derived from the property bequeathed, and that the person shall be admitted without cost, and shall through life have maintained a good character, and shall not have been reduced to penury through immoral conduct. Held, That the will did not create a trust in favor of indefinite beneficiaries, but the whole beneficial interest in the property vested in the corporation, for corporate purposes on a condition subsequent, which did not prevent the vesting of the estate.” In
Fitzgerald desired to aid the society in the establishment of a school, and for that purpose he conveyed to it the tract in question. Conveyance was made directly to the society without any reservation or provision, except that it should be used in the work in which the grantee was engaged. There was a condition attached that poor children should be educated without the usual charge made by the society for tuition; in other words, he required, in order that the society might.retain title to the property that certain of the scholars attending the school should not be charged for tuition; but no trust in the property was sought to be created for the benefit of this class of children. The property was to be owned absolutely by the society and used for promoting the very purpose for which it was organized. We are unable to see any legal principle upon which a charitable trust in this property can be established, and, if no trust was created by the deed of conveyance, the plaintiffs in this action have no interest to protect, and no interest which qualifies them to maintain the action.
We recommend' an affirmance of the judgment of the. district court.
By the Court: For the reasons stated in the foregoing opinion, the judgment of the district court is
Affirmed,