In re Barnes Foundation

2004 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 344, 2004 WL 2903655 (2004)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
I
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

In re Barnes Foundation

Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas
2004 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 344, 2004 WL 2903655 (2004)

Facts

Dr. Albert Barnes purchased an extensive personal collection of modern art. Barnes created The Barnes Foundation (foundation) (plaintiff) to manage the art collection. The foundation created a gallery in Merion, Pennsylvania that housed the collection. Barnes also created a charitable trust to fund the foundation. The trust’s stated purpose was to promote education and appreciation of the fine arts. Barnes placed numerous restrictions on the trust’s ability to make investments and to display the art collection, including a requirement that the collection remain in Merion. After Barnes died, these restrictions and other issues caused the foundation to experience significant financial difficulties that threatened its continued existence. The trustees (plaintiffs) believed that the only way to save the foundation was to (1) increase the number of trustees in order to allow more foundations to participate in the trust’s management and (2) move the art collection to a new location in downtown Philadelphia. However, both actions would violate the trust’s original terms. The trustees petitioned to have the court change the trust’s terms in order to prevent the trust from failing completely.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Ott, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 810,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Art Law
Federal Income Tax
Wills, Trusts, and Estates

Key Terms