Article on The Restricted Charitable Gift As Third-Party-Beneficiary Contract

William P. Sullivan recently published an Article entitled, The Restricted Charitable Gift As Third-Party-Beneficiary Contract, 52 Real Prop. Trust & Est. L.J. 79 (2017). Provided below is an abstract of the Article:

Although American law has traditionally barred the donor of a restricted charitable gift from enforcing the terms of his or her gift, most American jurisdictions now permit donors to enforce gift restrictions under at least some circumstances. The nature and extent of the right of enforcement, however, remain uncertain. This Article argues that the uncertainty surrounding enforcement is best resolved by treating restricted charitable gifts as third-party-beneficiary contracts. The Article presents a contractarian analysis of restricted charitable gifts, subjects alternative analyses to conceptual and practical critique, and suggest several modifications to the American Law Institute’s forthcoming Restatement of the Law of Charitable Nonprofit Organizations to facilitate appropriate contractual interpretation of restricted-charitable-gift instruments.