10 A.2d 683 | Conn. | 1940
In the will of Dwight W. Tuttle, who died in New Haven in 1922, is this provision: "I do give, devise, and bequeath to my wife Bertha E. Tuttle the sum of Seven Thousand Dollars, Five Thousand Dollars of which is to be expended in the erection of a Memorial Chapel to my deceased mother, with suitable inscription, and to be known as The Tuttle Memorial Chapel. Said Chapel to be erected in East *288 Lawn Cemetery in East Haven, Conn. And the income of the remaining Two Thousand Dollars to be used for the care and custody of the same." In 1927 the administrator c. t. a. of the estate made an application to the Court of Probate in which this provision of the will was recited and it was stated that Bertha E. Tuttle "named therein as trustee" had deceased and that the sum of $7000 referred to in the will had been set aside to comply with its terms; and the appointment of another trustee was requested. After due notice and hearing the court appointed the plaintiff trustee of the trust "created" by the paragraph in question, and he received and ever since has held the money with its accrued income.
The defendant cemetery corporation owns the East Lawn Cemetery in East Haven. On August 24, 1933, the board of directors passed a vote that the legacy "be and it hereby is declined," stating that the sums provided for the erection of the chapel and for its maintenance were both insufficient and that such a building was not required or desirable. The secretary the next day informed the plaintiff of the vote, but with the suggestion that with the funds available the corporation could erect a suitable building containing a rest room and other facilities upon which a memorial tablet could be placed. On May 2, 1938, the directors of the corporation voted to rescind the vote of August 24, 1933, and "to accept the legacy" on condition that the building to be erected should be of a chapel type designed for cemetery purposes, with a suitable inscription, and containing a memorial room which could be used, if required, for services, and that the plans be prepared by the cemetery corporation, subject to such approval as might be required by the Court of Probate. On May 4, 1938, the plaintiff petitioned the Court of Probate for advice as to the *289 disposition of the fund, but the Court of Probate was of the opinion that the matter should be determined by the Superior Court. Accordingly this action was brought and the plaintiff was advised that the provision in the will created a valid trust, that the vote of the cemetery corporation on August 24, 1933, did not terminate it, and that certain plans submitted to it complied with the terms of the trust. From that judgment this appeal has been taken. No contention is made that a building constructed in accordance with the plans approved by the trial court does not constitute a sufficient compliance with the terms of the will.
The will imposed a duty upon Mrs. Tuttle to use the fund in accordance with the directions of the testator and its terms may not be regarded as merely precatory. Cumming v. Pendleton,
The bequest was not one to the cemetery corporation, nor was it for the maintenance of the cemetery or monuments or graves in it, but was for the construction and maintenance of a chapel to be erected in the cemetery. The word chapel, in its ordinary significance, means a place of worship other than a large or regular church, a place of worship maintained for special purposes. Funk Wagnalls Dictionary. A chapel in connection with a cemetery is intended as a place where burial services may be conducted. These, by immemorial usage, are a recognized part of the religious services of the Christian church. Application of St. Bernard Cemetery Asso.,
It is inherent in the doctrine of charitable uses that the benefit to be conferred shall be sufficiently general so as to redound to the public good. Restatement, op. cit., p. 1161; 2 Bogert, op. cit., p. 1096. Within this limitation the number of individuals who might be served is not necessarily determinative of the validity of the bequest. In Eliot's Appeal, supra, 603, a bequest for the purpose of erecting an Episcopal chapel and sustaining a mission upon certain property was upheld despite the claim that its location was such that only a few would be likely to attend it. The fact that under the will before us the chapel was to be built in the grounds of a private cemetery corporation is not sufficient in itself to make the gift invalid. In Evergreen Cemetery Asso. v. Beecher,
We are aware that in Bullock v. Commissioner of Corporations Taxation,
While the consent of the cemetery corporation to the erection of the chapel on its grounds would no doubt be necessary to carry out the provisions of the trust, the first vote refusing that consent did not terminate the trust. No disposition of the fund was made as a result of that vote. The letter to the plaintiff *293
informing him of it clearly indicated that the matter was open for further negotiation and he evidently regarded it as not finally determined. A charitable trust is not terminated by mere delay in executing it; Tainter v. Clark, 87 Mass. (5 Allen) 66, 68; Zollmann, Charities, p. 438; or by a temporary inability to fulfil its purposes. Hartford National B. T. Co. v. Oak Bluffs Baptist Church,
There is no error.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.