Cy-près doctrine

The cy-près doctrine (/ˌsiːˈpreɪ/ SEE-PRAY) is a legal doctrine that first arose in courts of equity. The legal French term literally means "so near/close" and can be translated as "as near as possible" or "as near as may be". The doctrine originated in the law of charitable trusts, but has been applied in the context of class action settlements in the United States.

When the original objective of the settlor or the testator became impossible, impracticable, or illegal to perform, the cy-près doctrine allows the court to amend the terms of the charitable trust as closely as possible to the original intention of the testator or settlor to prevent the trust from failing.

For example, in Jackson v. Phillips, the testator (Francis Jackson) bequeathed to trustees money to be used to "create a public sentiment that will put an end to negro slavery in this country". At Jackson's death in 1861, slavery was legal in the United States. But four years after Jackson's death, slavery was abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment, and some of Jackson's family attempted to dissolve the trust. However, the court disagreed and ordered that to best fulfill Jackson's wishes the trust should be used, cy-près, "to promote the education, support and interests of the freedmen, lately slaves, in those states in which slavery had been so abolished".

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