Court Opinion

ID: 9633531
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 11:51:01.527875+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:54:23.168768
License: Public Domain

Schroeder, J.,
dissenting: In my opinion the Sterling Masonic Lodge No. 171, A. F. & A. M., of Sterling, Kansas, a subordinate lodge under the control and jurisdiction of the Kansas Grand Lodge, is incapable of taking and holding the absolute devise of the farm land in question.
The applicable provisions of G. S. 1949, 17-1703 have been construed by the court in Kennett v. Kidd, 87 Kan. 652, 125 Pac. 36, and the appellee concedes this statute applies to it in the instant case. It was expressly enacted for “religious, charitable and other organizations.” The significant language of the court on rehearing in Kennett v. Kidd, 89 Kan. 4, 130 Pac. 691, is not the emphasized portion of the quoted paragraph in the majority opinion, which has reference to grand or superior organizations, but the second sentence of that paragraph which reads:
“. . . The authority granted to local subordinate organizations by section 1832 (G. S. 1949, 17-1703) in no wise enlarges or changes the source of income from which they may provide necessary buildings, but simply directs how they may handle and hold such property instead of doing so by and through the grand or superior organization.” (p. 7.)
Kennett v. Kidd, supra, has never been overruled or modified.
Clark v. Watkins, 130 Kan. 549, 287 Pac. 244, did not have the effect of overruling Kennett v. Kidd, supra, but was confined by the court to the language of a petition, which described the lodge as “a charitable and benevolent organization” The concluding paragraph of the opinion reads:
“The discussion in the present case has taken a wide range, but we confine our decision to the question whether the petition stated a cause of action, and it appearing that the beneficiary named in the will is a charitable asso*546ciation and capable of receiving the gift for a charitable use the court ruled correctly in sustaining a demurrer to plaintiffs’ petition.” (p. 551.)
This court is committed to the proposition that once a devise or bequest is determined to constitute a charitable trust, courts look with liberality on the instrument creating it for the purpose of carrying out the intention of the donor. Technical rules of construction, which have often prevented conveyances or bequests from taking effect, are disregarded. (In re Estate of Freshour, 185 Kan. 434, 345 P. 2d 689, 81 A. L. R. 2d 806.)
It would appear from an examination of the language in 17-1703, supra, that if a subordinate lodge were permitted to own and hold real estate for any purpose, there would be no reason for the expression “such real estate, including such suitable building or buildings as may be necessary to provide suitable accommodations for the holding of its meetings and transacting of its business” in the statute.
The charter of the Sterling lodge, dated September 30, 1885, under paragraph Second, sets forth its purposes as follows:
“That the purposes for which this Corporation is formed are to purchase and own a hall, with entrances thereto and furniture therefor, in the City of Sterling in Rice County, Kansas, with power to create any necessary indebtedness to obtain the same, and to lease, mortgage or sell the same, and to build, or purchase again, as said Corporation may elect.”
It is readily apparent the charter does not authorize the Sterling lodge to conduct charitable activities. Furthermore, the evidence presented in this case does not support the finding of the trial court that the Sterling lodge is a charitable organization.
Prior to the filing of this lawsuit, and prior to the expiration of the life estate involving the quarter section of land in controversy, the members of the Sterling lodge received a letter from its officers. The letter reads:
“When Mr. Wamock passes on, the Lodge will receive clear title to this land. You can readily see what far reaching possibilities the land offers the Lodge towards receiving a steady income and becoming self-sufficient in the future. Sterling Lodge No. 171 has been notified it will be required to pay $1,047.01 as its share of inheritance tax, which is due by March 20, 1962. Brother Arthur Hodgson, the attorney retained by your Lodge, informs us this is correct and is the custom of the law.
“The land has an estimated market value of from $30,000.00 to $32,000.00.” (Emphasis added.)
Mr. Marrs, a Mason for 52 years, and a member of the Sterling lodge for 30 years, also one of the officers of Sterling lodge who signed the foregoing letter, testified:
*547“Q. Did you ever make any gifts, as to you say, to charity, to someone in Sterling, that was not a member of your lodge?
“A. Not that I know of.”
Actually, Sterling lodge wasn’t even charitable to its own members or their families, as shown by further testimony:
“We have made contributions to Mason’s families who were in need, but most of those contributions were given by the brothers of the lodge, by taking up a collection, because the lodge was not financially able to make such a contribution. One such example was when the daughter of Lloyd Booker, a member of our lodge was injured. Booker needed financial aid, so the members of the lodge took up a collection.”
The portion of the Bauer will in issue on this appeal reads:
“Third. I give, devise, and bequeath to the Sterling Masonic Lodge No. 171, A. F. & A. M., the Southwest Quarter of Section 23, Township 21 South, Range 7 West, Rice County, Kansas, with all the incidents and appurtenances thereto, including oil and gas lease or leases and unproduced oil and gas or minerals, subject only to the life estate of Glen H. Wamock set forth in the next preceding paragraph.”
It is readily apparent the decedent intended by the above devise to give the Sterling lodge a direct devise of the land in question without any conditions being imposed in the nature of a trust for charitable purposes.
What the court is doing by its decision in this case is to impress a trust upon the above described property contrary to the intention of the testator, as expressed in his will.
It is essential to the creation of a trust that there be a separation of the legal estate from the beneficial enjoyment, and therefore a public charitable trust cannot exist where property is given absolutely to an organization.
The third paragraph of the Bauer will devises 160 acres of farm land worth $30,000 to the Sterling Masonic Lodge. It was the intention of the testator to make such devise absolute — an unrestricted gift to that lodge. The devise in question is not a charitable devise. The court by its decision is rewriting the will of Bauer.
Under 17-1703, supra, which provides for “religious, charitable and other organizations,” subordinate lodges under the control of superior or grand lodges, whether incorporated or unincorporated, can take and own only so much real estate, and no more, than is necessary to provide a suitable building or buildings as accommodations for the holding of its meetings and the transacting of its business, as such statute was construed in Kennett v. Kidd, supra. It *548cannot take an absolute, unrestricted gift of real estate under a will which would circumvent the express terms of that statute.
For the reasons heretofore stated, it is respectfully submitted the judgment of the lower court should be reversed.
Price, J., joins in the foregoing dissent.