Jewish Guild for the Blind v. First National Bank of St. Petersburg

Simeon Cohn, decedent, established a charitable testamentary trust naming the First National Bank in St. Petersburg (defendant) as trustee. The Jewish Guild for the Blind (JGB) (plaintiff) was the first-named beneficiary, and the trust directed JGB to use trust assets to purchase or construct a separate building, dedicated to Cohn’s wife, containing educational and recreational facilities for blind children. The trust further dictated that JGB needed to use the trust’s assets for the prescribed purpose within five years. If JGB failed to comply, the trust would terminate and the trust assets would be paid to the Montefiore Hospital for Chronic Diseases in the City of New York (Montefiore) to establish a pediatric orthopedic ward dedicated to Cohn’s wife. The charitable trust’s assets were approximately $102,000. Because $102,000 was insufficient to cover the cost of executing Cohn’s directives as written, JGB petitioned for construction of the trust’s terms under the cy pres doctrine, arguing that (1) applying trust assets to install facilities for the education and recreation of blind children on the third floor of JGB’s New City Center would be an effective alternative; and (2) the trust’s terms evidenced a general charitable intent to benefit blind children and therefore the proposed alternative use would still accomplish the settlor’s charitable purpose. Montefiore consented to JGB’s proposed alternative use of the trust assets. The trial court held that the cy pres doctrine could not be used to modify the trust’s terms and dismissed JGB’s petition. JGB appealed.