Harrington Trust Saga

Sybil B. Harrington created an inter vivos trust, originally valued at approximately $100 million, which expressly provided that the trustees could make distributions only for charities in one Arizona county and 29 Texas counties.

However, the trustees have distributed a significant portion of the funds (over $1.5 million) to charities in New York, California, and other improper locations.

In addition, the trustees have favored the one Arizona county (Maricopa, where Phoenix is located).  For example, more than $18 million of the 21.6 million which the trustees distributed between October 2005 and the end of March 2006 went to charities in Maricopa County.

Some of the named Texas counties have received generous contributions while others have received nothing.

The Texas Attorney General has now ordered the trustees to make no further distributions to charities in Arizona until they answer the AG’s questions.

See Karen Smith Welch, Texas attorney general orders trust fund trustees to stop giving money to Arizona, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Aug. 9, 2006, at A7.