Ensuring Donor’s Intent is Followed

In a recent post, Bryan Cave Fiduciary Litigation details a Georgia State case in which a family made a $1.5 million dollar donation to a church and later sued for breach of fiduciary duty because of the church’s failure to build a church per the donation.  

A practical implication from the case, according to Luke Lantta, is: If a donation is made for a specific use, consider putting a time limit on it. 

At the trial level, the case was dismissed. A new suit was initiated seeking to impose a charitable trust on the original donation and the donors second suit survived a motion to dismiss. 

See Luke Lantta, Collateral Estoppel Did Not Bar Claim For Implied Charitable Trust, April 17, 2014. 

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.