Suter v. Hilliard
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Bill in equity by the administrator de bonis non, with the will annexed, of the estate of John Foster, for the instructions of the court upon the question whether a valid trust was created by a residuary devise to trustees named and their successors, in trust to appropriate the. net income, according to their best judgment and soundest discretion, to the following purposes : “ First.
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Bill in equity by the administrator de bonis non, with the will annexed, of the estate of John Foster, for the instructions of the court upon the question whether a valid trust was created by a residuary devise to trustees named and their successors, in trust to appropriate the. net income, according to their best judgment and soundest discretion, to the following purposes : “ First. To assist, relieve and benefit such poor and necessitous persons or person as the trustees or trustee for the time being shall consider most necessitous and most deserving of such assistance and relief, and as…
1Opinion of the CourtEndicott, J.
The question here raised is settled by the decisions of this court. The word “benevolent” as applied to objects or purposes may refer to those which are in their nature charitable, and may also have a broader meaning, and include objects and purposes not charitable in the legal sense of that word. Acts of kindness, friendship, forethought, or good will might properly be described as benevolent. It has therefore been held that gifts to trustees to be applied “ for benevolent purposes ” at their discretion, or “ to such benevolent purposes ” as they could agree upon, do not create a public…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Chamberlain v. StearnsMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1873
- Rotch v. EmersonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1870
3Cited by16 opinions
- Thorp v. LundMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1917
- Franklin Square House v. City of BostonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1905
- Societe Francaise De Bienfaisance Mutuelle De Los Angeles v. FlintCalifornia Supreme Court · 1920
- Young Men's Protestant Temperance & Benevolent Society v. City of Fall RiverMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1894
- Grant v. SaundersSupreme Court of Iowa · 1903
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