Charouleau's Estate, Matter of
| Decision Date | 26 January 1976 |
| Docket Number | CA-CIV,No. 2,2 |
| Citation | 25 Ariz.App. 507,544 P.2d 1108 |
| Parties | In the Matter of the ESTATE of Anna CHAROULEAU, Deceased. The ARIZONA CHILDREN'S HOME, Appellant, v. COMSTOCK HOSPITAL FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN, Handmaker Jewish Nursing Home, Villa Maria de Guadalupe Nursing Home and Apartments, Pima Council on Aging, Young Men's Christian Association, American Baptist Homes of the West, Inc., Tucson Community Development Design Center, Episcopal Retirement Homes, and Tucson Housing Foundation, Inc., Appellees. 1953. |
| Court | Arizona Court of Appeals |
The Arizona Children's Home appeals from a superior court order directing Southern Arizona Bank and Trust Company as trustee under the testamentary trust of Anna Charouleau to select a charity other than appellant to receive the trust funds.
The terms of the testatrix' will and codicil direct the trustee to establish a home for the aged poor of Pima County. She stated:
'It is my intention and desire to establish a home for the aged and needy persons who have been residents of Pima County, Arizona, for a period of ten (10) years at the date of application for admission to the Home, . . ..'
She also made provision against the excessive use of alcohol and for the removal of undesirable lodgers.
The codicil provides that if the trustee determines there are insufficient funds to establish the home, he shall appoint five business people to an advisory board to review his decision. If they agree that the trust assets are insufficient, the trustee shall investigate the possibility of securing other funds. If no adequate funding can be obtained, the codicil states that the trustee shall:
'. . . with the advice of the Committee and the consent of the Court, use the trust fund for the charity in Pima County, Arizona, most likely to carry out the purposes of this Trust, and in the event that there is no charity that would seem likely to carry out the purposes of this Trust, then I direct that the proceeds of this Trust be distributed to a charitable organization that will agree to use the fund for charitable purposes for the benefit of persons residing in Pima County, Arizona, and in that connection, I suggest that there be considered the Comstock Hospital for Crippled Children and the Arizona Children's Home, . . ..
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I further direct that in the event the fund is distributed to another charity, if possible, that fund be used for the specific purpose of creating a permanent improvement to an existing charity in Pima County, Arizona, and if it is practical that the name CHAROULEAU be used in connection with such permanent improvement.'
Since the trust assets were insufficient to establish a home, a committee was appointed. It narrowed the list of candidates down to four: appellant, the Arizona Children's Home; and appellees, Comstock Hospital for Crippled Children, Handmaker Jewish Nursing Home, and Villa Maria de Guadalupe Nursing Home and Apartments.
The committee ultimately recommended that the Arizona Children's Home be the recipient. It believed that no home met all the requirements set forth in the will. The committee also favored giving the money to an organization which would benefit the entire community.
The trustee accepted the committee's recommendation, and presented it to the court. The lower court rejected the choice of the Arizona Children's Home as recipient and directed the trustee to select another organization. The court stated:
'The Court finds that there is sufficient basis for the determination that there are not adequate funds for the originally contemplated home which would be operated by the trust.
The Court further finds that the phrase 'the purposes of this Trust', as used in subparagraph(s) of the fifth paragraph of the will as amended...
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