CHARITABLE TRUSTS or CHAR ITIES, any real or personal property gifted as a trust, which comes within an approved definition of a charity and which is for the benefit of an indefinite class of persons, suffi ciently designated to indicate the intention of the donor, and constituting some portion or class of the public. Thus, a charitable .trust or a charity is a donation in trust for promoting the welfare of mankind at large, or of a com munity, or of some class forming a part of it, indefinite as to numbers and individuals — in short, a gift for general public use. Most defi nitions attempt to carry the implication of public utility in its purpose as the following: A charitable trust is "a gift, to be applied con sistently with existing laws, for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons, either by bringing their minds or their hearts under the influence of education or religion, by relieving their bodies from disease, suffering or con straint, by assisting them to establish them selves in life, or by erecting and maintaining public buildings or works, or otherwise lessen ing the burdens of government; a gift to a general public use, which extends to the poor as well as the rich." In charitable trusts the object is generally uncertain, because if de scribed with definiteness it would cease to be a charity and would be governed by the ordinary rules of trusts.
While, generally speaking, charities are either public or private, it is only with what are known as public charities that the courts concern themselves in applying the peculiar law relating to charities. The line of distinc tion which, determines where a private charity ends and a public one begins is at times diffi cult to locate, and this difficulty has caused much of the apparent want of harmony which prevails among the decisions on this subject. Charitable trusts are not within the rule against perpetuities. In fact a charitable trust contemplates perpetuity as explained farther on. The general rule of law is that money or prop erty devoted to a charitable use, where a trust is created, must, if the gift is accepted, be irrevocably devoted to such use.
Trusts for charitable uses are of ancient origin. In 1601 the English Parliament en acted the statute of 43 Elizabeth, which is frequently referred to as ((The Statute of Charitable Uses,)) and that act has had an important bearing on the subject of public charities from that date until the present time. The statute was repealed in 1888, but the re pealing act incorporated the preamble and it continues in force. Charitable trusts are rec ognized in all of the States of the Union, but a number of the States have never adopted the statute at all, their courts differing as to whether this statute is in force as a part of the common law. The statute is important by reason of its enumeration in its preamble of purposes and objects which are considered charitable, as the courts of practically all juris dictions give consideration and weight to this enumeration, regardless of the foundation of the law of chanties in the particular jurisdic tion. Uncertainty of the object is one of the
characteristics of a charitable trust, and it has led to what is known as the cy pres doctrine, which is that the courts will interpret instru ments creating charitable trusts so that if the exact object of the donor cannot be carried out the donation will be applied to something of a nature similar to that specified by the donor.
When a testator leaves property to his ex ecutors in such a manner that they are to be the sole judges of its use, and the executors die before the testator, it is doubtful whether the trust will come into existence, as the execu tors were the only persons who could desig nate for what the donation was to be applied. In some jurisdictions the rule is that if the property can be applied to other than charitable purposes it is too indefinite.
In cases in which the particular charitable purpose does not exhaust the whole fund, if from the instrument creating the fund, the in tention appears that the entire amount is for charity, the surplus will be devoted to some other charity and will not form a resulting trust for the heir or next of kin. A gift may be made to a charity not in existence, and a gift to a specific charity will not fail for want of a trustee.
After the trustee has come into existence, if the purpose for which the trust was created fails for any reason, it will be applied to some other purpose of a similar character, so as to fulfil as nearly as possible the purpose for which it was intended. (See RHODES SCHOLAR sHIFs).
Charitable trusts are not subject to the rule against perpetuities, which is that property can not be tied up for more than a life or lives in being and 21 years thereafter. If property left to a charitable trust is limited upon another estate not a charitable trust, and the first estate is in violation of the rule against perpetuities, the trust will not be sustained; but after the trust once comes into existence the rule against perpetuities is not applied to it.
By English law all bequests for charitable purposes, to be valid, must be strictly for the public benefit; that is to say, in favor of insti tutions for the advancement of learning, science and art; for the support of the poor; or for other objects connected with the wel fare of the public; and such bequests include those in favor of the Church or of other re ligious bodies sanctioned by the law. Be quests for what are classed as superstitious uses are null and void. A body of commis sioners (the charity commissioners), under whose superintendency such benevolent trusts are placed, was established under the Chari table Trusts Acts of 1853, 1855, 1860, 1869 and 1888, and lastly upon the Mortmain and Char itable Uses Act of 1891. They have the power of inquiring into the administration of all Eng lish public charities. (See MoirrMAIN; PEN