No Termination of Trust with Vested Charitable Remainder

A trust with a remainder payable to a named charity will not violate the rule against perpetuities even though the current beneficiaries were not lives in being when the trust was created, and so the early termination of the trust will violate a material purpose of the trust and will not be approved under 20 Pa.C.S. § 7740.1(b) even with the consent of all parties. John A. Quigley Testamentary Trust, 10 Fid.Rep.3d 111, No. 374ST of 1935 (Philadelphia O.C. 2/18/2020).

Note: 20 Pa.C.S. § 7740.1 applies to “noncharitable” trusts, and 20 Pa.C.S. § 7703 defines “charitable trust” as a “trust, or portion of a trust, created for a charitable purpose described in section 7735(a) (relating to charitable purposes; enforcement – UTC 405)” (emphasis added). 20 Pa.C.S. § 7740.3, on the modification or termination of charitable trusts, refers to the possibility of a charitable trust having noncharitable beneficaries, so it appears that a trust with both charitable and noncharitable beneficiaries should be governed by § 7740.3 and not § 7740.1.

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