Court Opinion

ID: 9561238
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:05:45.487792+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:13:41.756011
License: Public Domain

*186Sears, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. In November 1993, the National Council of the YMCA terminated the Cordele YMCA’s authority to operate YMCA programs and services, and such authority has never been reinstated. Twice since its formation, the Cordele YMCA has been administratively dissolved by Georgia’s Secretary of State.1 Since 1992, the Cordele YMCA has performed no charitable functions, and its only activities during that time have consisted of liquidating assets and paying debts. The organization no longer possesses tax-exempt status.
When the Cordele organization ceased functioning as a YMCA, its directors invited the Albany Area YMCA to take control of YMCA activities in Crisp County, and since 1993, the Albany Area YMCA has been the only organization authorized by the National YMCA to provide YMCA services and programs in Crisp County.2 The Albany Area YMCA has organized a Crisp County Advisory Board to assist it in making that provision, and it also retains permanent Crisp County employees.
The doctrine of cy pres provides that “[i]f a valid charitable bequest. . . cannot be executed in the exact manner provided by the testator . . . the superior court will exercise equitable powers in such a way as will nearly as possible effectuate the intention of the testator.”3 The doctrine of cy pres is applied in cases in which (1) there is an otherwise valid charitable grant that is philanthropic in nature and that offers public benefits; (2) a general charitable intention on the testator’s part is evidenced; and (3) the specific intention of the testator may not be legally or practicably possible.4
Certainly, Branan’s legacy to the “Cordele, Georgia Area YMCA” evidences a charitable intention to bequeath money to a Crisp County regional YMCA organization. On its face, this appears to be a valid charitable grant for philanthropic public purposes. However, it also is clear from the record that at the time of Branan’s death, a specific intention to bequeath money to the Cordele YMCA was not practicably possible, because the Cordele organization was no longer authorized to operate as a YMCA, had not operated as a YMCA for a number of years, and had not performed any charitable services for an even greater number of years. Because the Cordele organization was incapable of functioning as a YMCA, and did not function as a *187charitable organization, it was practicably impossible to effectuate Branan’s philanthropic intention to benefit a Crisp County regional YMCA program by awarding the bequest to the Cordele YMCA. Hence, the trial court correctly concluded that the charitable bequest could not be executed in the precise manner set forth in Branan’s will.
Furthermore, the Albany Area YMCA is authorized to operate as a YMCA in the Crisp County region, offers YMCA programs and services in that region, and consults with a local Crisp County advisory board to assist it in providing services in that region. Beginning in 1993, at the invitation of the Cordele YMCA directors, the Albany Area YMCA replaced its defunct Cordele counterpart as the only organization authorized to provide YMCA services in Crisp County. Hence, given that Branan’s intention could not be effectuated if his charitable bequest was delivered to the Cordele YMCA, the trial court was authorized by the doctrine of cy pres to name the Albany Area YMCA as the appropriate recipient of the bequest, thereby fulfilling Branan’s testamentary intention as nearly as possible.
The majority’s contrary ruling disregards Georgia law and further restricts application of the cy pres doctrine in this state. The majority relies upon a legal treatise to rule that the Cordele YMCA should take the bequest because its identity “continue [d] without dissolution until the death of the testator. 79 AmJur2d, Wills, § 178.”5 However, that is not the law in Georgia. As explained above, rather than turning on procedural dissolution, Georgia’s law is that cy pres is applied to charitable bequests when the specific intention of the testator may not be legally or practicably possible.6 Applying this standard, I emphasize that the Cordele YMCA’s authority to provide YMCA programs and services has been abolished by the National YMCA Council, and the organization has been nullified as a YMCA services provider. It follows that, practicably speaking (which is the standard in Georgia), Branan’s intention to benefit YMCA services in Cordele by making a bequest to the Cordele YMCA was not possible, thereby invoking the cy pres doctrine.
I also believe that the majority has mischaracterized the Cordele YMCA as being merely “not active.”7 The Cordele organization is more than just inactive — it has allowed its National YMCA charter to be dissolved, and it has also requested that the Albany Area YMCA come into the Cordele area and provide YMCA programs and services to Cordele area residents. For all practical purposes, the Cordele YMCA is a mere “shell corporation.” This state of affairs, I *188believe, evidences the Cordele organization’s (1) relinquishment of any right or desire to be an authorized YMCA services provider, and (2) its intention to consolidate or merge its former YMCA service region into the nearby Albany Area YMCA’s service region. As recognized by the majority’s own authority, “where a named charitable beneficiary merges, or is consolidated, with other similar entities, the new entity is entitled to the bequest.”8 Hence, in this case, the Albany Area YMCA should be the proper recipient of Branan’s bequest.
Decided February 14, 2000
Reconsideration denied March 10, 2000.
Roberts, Rainwater & Ingram, Lawrence W. Roberts, David N. Rainwater, for appellant.
Moore, Clarke, DuVall & Rodgers, James H. Moore III, Edgar W. Duskin, Jr., Wright, Hyman & Pack, G. Russell Wright, Clifford W. Harpe, Jr., A. Lee Hayes, for appellees.
For all of these reasons, I believe that the trial court was authorized under Georgia law regarding the doctrine of cy pres to exercise its equitable powers in order to effectuate Branan’s charitable intention as nearly as possible by awarding his charitable bequest to the Albany Area YMCA, and I respectfully dissent to the majority’s ruling to the contrary.
I am authorized to state that Chief Justice Benham joins in this dissent.

 However, the organization has been reinstated each time. The first dissolution was in July 17, 1994, with reinstatement on April 5, 1996. The second dissolution was on July 5, 1998, with reinstatement on July 29, 1998.

 In addition to the City of Albany and Crisp County, the Albany Area YMCA also provides YMCA services in Lee, Dougherty, Worth, Terrell and Turner Counties.

 OCGA § 53-12-113.

 Trammell v. Elliott, 230 Ga. 841, 846 (199 SE2d 194) (1973).

 Op. at 184.

 Trammell, 230 Ga. at 846.

 Op. at 184.

 Gustafson v. Wesley Foundation, 266 Ga. 679, 680 (469 SE2d 160) (1996).