N.Y. EPT Law § 8-1.1 — New York Code / Act EPT / Article 8 / Part 1 / Section 8-1.1
Disposition of property for charitable purposes
Status: in_force

§ 8-1.1 Disposition of property for charitable purposes\n  (a) No disposition of property for religious, charitable, educational\nor benevolent purposes, otherwise valid under the laws of this state, is\ninvalid by reason of the indefiniteness or uncertainty of the persons\ndesignated as beneficiaries. If a trustee is named in the disposing\ninstrument, legal title to the property transferred for such a purpose\nvests in such trustee; if no person is named as trustee, title vests in\nthe court having jurisdiction over the trust.\n  (b) No disposition of property made in a will, executed and attested\nas prescribed by law, is invalid by reason of the incorporation by\nreference in the will of any existing written resolution, declaration or\ndeed of trust, identified in such will and made or adopted by any\ncorporation authorized by law to execute or accept trusts, to assist,\nencourage and promote the well-being and well-doing of mankind in\ngeneral or the inhabitants of any community in particular; provided that\na copy of such resolution, declaration or deed of trust, certified,\nunder its corporate seal, by the secretary or assistant secretary or the\ncashier or assistant cashier of such corporation, is filed for record in\nthe office of the secretary of state and in the office of the clerk or\nregister of the county of the corporation's principal place of business,\nin which the conveyances of real property are required by law to be\nfiled for record, the secretary of state and the officer in charge of\nsuch record office being hereby authorized and directed to receive and\nrecord such resolution, declaration or deed of trust upon payment of the\nfees provided by law. Any such testamentary disposition to a corporation\nfor the religious, charitable, educational or benevolent purposes set\nforth in such resolution, declaration or deed of trust is effective\nalthough the terms, conditions and purposes of such disposition are\nestablished only through such reference in the will.\n  (c) (1) The supreme court and, where the disposition is made by will,\nthe surrogate's court in which such will is probated have jurisdiction\nover dispositions referred to and authorized by paragraphs (a) and (b),\nand whenever it appears to such court that circumstances have so changed\nsince the execution of an instrument making a disposition for religious,\ncharitable, educational or benevolent purposes as to render\nimpracticable or impossible a literal compliance with the terms of such\ndisposition, the court may, on application of the trustee or of the\nperson having custody of the property subject to the disposition and on\nsuch notice as the court may direct, make an order or decree directing\nthat such disposition be administered and applied in such manner as in\nthe judgment of the court will most effectively accomplish its general\npurposes, free from any specific restriction, limitation or direction\ncontained therein; provided, however, that any such order or decree is\neffective only with the consent of the creator of the disposition if he\nis living.\n  (2) (i) The attorney general or any trustee or beneficiary of a\ntestamentary or lifetime trust wholly benefitting one or more charitable\nbeneficiaries may petition a court of competent jurisdiction, on notice\nto the attorney general and all parties interested in the trust, seeking\na termination of such trust when the trust is comprised of assets, the\nmarket value of which is one hundred thousand dollars or less and the\nexpense of administering the trust is uneconomic when considered\nrelative to income. When the court finds upon such application that\ncontinuation of the trust is economically impracticable or is not in the\nbest interests of the beneficiaries, the court shall make an order or\ndecree terminating the trust and directing the distribution of the trust\nassets to accomplish its charitable purposes, provided, however, that if\nthe trust is one for the benefit of a particular charitable beneficiary\nor beneficiaries named therein, the court shall direct the distribution\nof the trust assets to such named charitable beneficiary or\nbeneficiaries, and provided further that no such proceeding may be\ninstituted without the consent of the creator of the disposition if he\nis living.\n  (ii) For purposes of this paragraph, the term "charitable beneficiary"\nshall mean the beneficiary of a disposition for a religious, charitable,\neducational or benevolent purpose.\n  (d) The power of the supreme court or the surrogate's court, as\nprovided in paragraph (c), to prevent the failure of, and to give effect\nto dispositions for religious, charitable, educational or benevolent\npurposes is not defeated by the circumstance that the beneficiary of any\nsuch disposition does not exist or, if in existence, lacks capacity to\ntake such disposition at the time it would otherwise become effective,\nwhether or not the disposition creates an express trust to effectuate\nits purposes.\n  (e) Any accumulation of income from property subject to a disposition\nin trust for a religious, charitable, educational or benevolent purpose,\nor otherwise acquired by such trust, shall in all respects, including\nits reasonableness, amount and duration, be within the jurisdiction of\nthe supreme court or the surrogate's court, as the case may be. In\nexercising such jurisdiction, (1) any accumulation of income which might\notherwise be applied for the purposes of the trust may be prohibited or\nlimited, despite a valid direction therefor in the trust instrument or\nauthority therefor under 8-1.7 and (2) such an accumulation may be\nauthorized by order of the court despite the absence of a direction\ntherefor in the trust instrument. This paragraph shall not restrict in\nany manner the ability to release or modify restrictions relating to\ninstitutional funds under section 555 of the not-for-profit corporation\nlaw.\n  (f) The attorney general shall represent the beneficiaries of such\ndispositions for religious, charitable, educational or benevolent\npurposes and it shall be his duty to enforce the rights of such\nbeneficiaries by appropriate proceedings in the courts.\n  (g) The supreme court or the surrogate's court, as the case may be,\nmay authorize the trustee or any person holding title thereto to sell,\nmortgage or lease any real property which is the subject of a\ndisposition for a religious, charitable, educational or benevolent\npurpose, whenever it appears to the satisfaction of the court that such\nreal property, or any part thereof, has become or is likely to become\nunproductive, has depreciated or is likely to depreciate in value, that\nit is advisable to raise money to improve or erect buildings upon\nproperty so held or that it is expedient for any other reason that such\nreal property be sold, mortgaged or leased. This paragraph shall not\nrestrict in any manner the powers or rights any trustee may have by law\nor by the terms of any disposition of such real property.  The\nprovisions of this paragraph shall not apply to any corporation which is\nsubject to sections 509 through 511 of the not-for-profit corporation\nlaw.\n  (h) The supreme court or the surrogate's court shall not make an order\nor decree under paragraph (g) unless it appears that eight days written\nnotice, stating the time and place of the application for such order or\ndecree, has been served upon the attorney general, who shall represent\nthe state, the beneficiaries of any trust and the persons who might\nbenefit from the religious, charitable, educational or benevolent\npurpose for which the real property, which is the subject of the\napplication, is held. A like eight days notice of such application shall\nbe given to any adult within the state who has a vested or contingent\nfuture estate in such real property and to any minor, incompetent,\nconservatee or absentee who is interested in such property, in such\nmanner as the court may direct. Before making a final order or decree,\nthe court shall appoint a guardian ad litem for any minor who is not\nrepresented by a guardian or parent, for any incompetent who is not\nrepresented by a committee, and for any absentee.\n  (i) A sale, mortgage or lease made, as required by law, in accordance\nwith an order or decree of a court under this section is effective\nagainst the state as representative of the beneficiaries of such trust\nand persons who might benefit from the purposes for which such real\nproperty is held, and against persons with a vested or contingent future\ninterest in such property and minors, incompetents, conservatees,\nabsentees and persons not in being who have an interest in such\nproperty, as well as all other persons who, having been made parties to\nsuch proceeding, consent to such order or decree. The purchaser,\nmortgagee or lessee, or any person claiming under them, shall not be\nresponsible for the disposition of the proceeds of any such sale,\nmortgage or lease.\n  (j) Whenever a voluntary association or committee has received, by\npublic subscription, a fund for a charitable or benevolent purpose from\nmore than one thousand contributors, a portion of which remains\nunexpended after the expiration of five years from the time of its\nreceipt, and it appears that a literal compliance with the terms of the\nsubscription is impracticable, the supreme court may make an order\ndirecting that such unexpended balance be transferred for administration\nand application to such domestic corporation as in the judgment of the\ncourt will most effectively accomplish the general purpose for which\nsuch fund was collected, free from any restriction, limitation or\ndirection upon which the subscription was made; and on the transfer of\nsuch fund to the corporation designated in the order, such voluntary\nassociation, its officers and trustees, or such committee and its\nofficers shall be fully exonerated and discharged from all liability to\naccount for such fund. This paragraph shall not restrict in any manner\nthe ability to release or modify restrictions relating to institutional\nfunds under section 555 of the not-for-profit corporation law.\n  (k) An order shall be made under paragraph (j) on the application of\nthe association or the treasurer of the committee, having custody of the\nunexpended balance, on twenty days personal notice to the attorney\ngeneral and notice by publication once a week for four consecutive weeks\nin a newspaper of general circulation published in the county in which\nthe treasurer of such association or committee resides. If such\ntreasurer resides outside of the state, such notice shall be published\nin the county in which at least ten per cent of the contributors of such\nfund resided at the time of its receipt or in such other manner as the\ncourt may direct to the contributors as a class, to ten specified\nmembers of such class and to the trustees of such association or the\nsurviving members of such committee.\n  (l) Where public subscriptions for charitable or benevolent purposes\nwere made or begun prior to the year nineteen hundred twenty and the\ntotal number of subscribers exceeded five hundred but were less than one\nthousand, any unexpended balance of a fund obtained for such purpose\nwhich, at the time this section takes effect, is in the custody of a\nsurviving member of a committee may be transferred for administration,\non the application of such surviving member, in accordance with the\nprocedure and with the effect set forth in paragraphs (j) and (k).\n