Anderson v. Ryland

Ed. F. McFaddin, Associate Justice.

The question here presented is the power of a court of equity to sanction a deviation from one portion of a charitable trust instrument in order to accomplish the larger purpose of the charitable trust. Stated another way, the question is the power of a court of equity to permit a sale of the trust property, even though, the trust instrument states that the property cannot be sold.

In 1889 Joseph Merrill executed a trust indenture creating the Merrill Institute in Pine Bluff. The instrument recited in part:

“Know All Men by These Presents, that I Joseph…