In Tuvim v. United Jewish Communities, Inc., the decedent named an incorporated charitable entity as the POD beneficiary of five certificates of deposit and a trust account. Because the relevant Georgia statutes limit beneficiaries of such POD accounts to “persons” and do not include corporations in the definition of “person,” the beneficiary designations are void and the property is part of the probate estate. Over a strong dissent, the majority also held that Georgia’s statutory cy pres doctrine does not apply because it authorizes the court to exercise equitable powers to effectuate as nearly as possible the donor’s charitable intent and cannot be used to do what the law prevented the donor from doing. Tuvim v. United Jewish Communities, Inc., No. S09A0006, 2009 WL 1649496 (Ga. June 15, 2009).
