Mid-Iowa Council of Boy Scouts of America, Inc. v. Norwest Bank Iowa, N.A.

641 N.W.2d 771, 2002 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 33
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedFebruary 27, 2002
DocketNo. 99-1198
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 641 N.W.2d 771 (Mid-Iowa Council of Boy Scouts of America, Inc. v. Norwest Bank Iowa, N.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mid-Iowa Council of Boy Scouts of America, Inc. v. Norwest Bank Iowa, N.A., 641 N.W.2d 771, 2002 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 33 (iowa 2002).

Opinion

CARTER, Justice.

This dispute concerns the distribution of proceeds from a testamentary trust. Objections were filed to the trustee’s annual report asserting that Mid-Iowa Council of Boy Scouts of America, Inc. (Mid-Iowa Council), a regional administrative division of the Boy Scouts of America, was not using the annual distributions it received in accordance with the testator’s directions. The objector is Mahaska County Boys, Inc. (Boys, Inc.), a nonprofit corporation organized for the sole purpose of providing resources for boy scout activities in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Its members consist of current and former scout leaders in the community. Boys, Inc. sought a ruling from the district court directing the annual charitable distribution that the testator provided for “the exclusive benefit of the activities of the boy scouts in Oskaloosa, Iowa,” be distributed to it rather than to Mid-Iowa Council.

The district court found that Mid-Iowa Council was not using the trust proceeds it received in the manner directed by the testator and ordered the trustee to make current and future distributions to Boys, [773]*773Inc. rather than Mid-Iowa Council. Mid-Iowa Council challenges this ruling on this appeal. After reviewing the record and considering the arguments presented, we affirm the judgment of the district court as modified by this opinion.

The testator was W. Seymour Lacy who died in the state of New York on December 10, 1957. His will was admitted to probate in New York but the trustee named therein was the Iowa Des Moines National Bank. Court supervision of the portion of the trust at issue here has, since the inception of the trust, been carried out in the Iowa District Court for Mahaska County.

Mr. Lacy’s will provided, in part, as follows:

SEVENTH: All the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, real and personal, wheresoever situated, of which I shall die seized or possessed, or to which I may in any way be entitled, or over which I may have any power of testamentary disposition, including any lapsed legacy, all of which is hereinafter referred to as my “residuary estate,” I dispose of as follows:
C. I give, devise and bequeath my residuary estate to the IOWA-DES MOINES NATIONAL BANK, as Trustee, in trust, to hold, manage and administer the trust estate, which shall be known as “THE HARRY L. SPENCER, MARY E. SPENCER and GERTRUDE WHITTIER SPENCER LACY MEMORIAL FUND,” and shall be construed to be a charitable trust, collect the income therefrom and distribute the income thereof as follows:
(b) To each of the following charitable organizations operating in the City of Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa, the birthplace of my wife, and toward which I have an abiding and deep affection, I direct that there be paid annually in each fiscal year of the trust, commencing with the date of my death, the sum set after the name of each, to wit:
(iv) The Southern Iowa Area Council of Boy Scouts of America, located at 302 East Main Street, Ottum-wa, Iowa, One thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), for the exclusive benefit of the activities of the Boy Scouts in Oskaloosa, Iowa.
It has been the desire of my wife, Gertrude W. Lacy, and me, in planning the above program which has as its main purpose the assistance of the youth of Oskaloosa, that the additional assistance which this fund mil bring to the efforts of the residents of Oskaloosa and its environs may serve to make the effectiveness of these Os-kaloosa organizations outstanding when compared with like services provided by cities of the same size.... I request the Trustee to advise each of the above-named organizations annually, at the time its share of the income from this Fund is sent to it, of this expression of the hopes and desires of my wife and myself in planning this program.
(d) If in any fiscal year of the trust there is a surplus of net income remaining over and above the payments required to be made to the said Irene D. Roberts and Harriette L. Searle and the total of the distributions required to be made to the organizations specified in subdivisions “(a)” and “(b)” hereof, then and in that event such surplus shall be divided in fifti[774]*774eths and distributed among the following organizations in the proportions set after the name of each:
■ (iii) The Southern Iowa Area Council of Boy Scouts of America, three-fiftieths (3/50) for the exclusive benefit of the activities of the Boy Scouts in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

(Emphasis added.) Due to a reorganization of boy scout councils in the state of Iowa, the Southern Iowa Area Council mentioned in Mr. Lacy’s will is now the Mid-Iowa Council.

In August 1995 Boys, Inc. wrote to Mid-Iowa Council requesting an accounting of how it had used the proceeds received by the trust in prior years. It received a response from the council’s lawyer stating only that “Mid-Iowa Council has responsibly handled its financial affairs, and received unqualified audits each year it has received funds from the Lacy Trust.” On January 15, 1999, the trustee filed an annual report. Boys, Inc. objected to that report with respect to the proposed distribution to Mid-Iowa Council. It asserted that Mid-Iowa Council was not using the trust proceeds “for the exclusive benefit of the activities of the boy scouts in Oskaloo-sa, Iowa.”

There are two boy scout troops in Oska-loosa. One is affiliated with the Central Methodist Church and the other is affiliated with the First Christian Church. Within the boy scout organizational structure, these churches are known as chartered partners. They participate in conducting the scouting program. Boy scout activity in Oskaloosa also includes two Cub Scout packs and an Explorer Scout crew. There are approximately 142 members in the local scout programs in Oskaloosa. The charter between the national boy scout program and each of the chartered partners provides that the chartered partner is to “conduct the scouting program according to its own policies and guidelines as well as those of the Boy Scouts of America.”

The national organization of the Boy Scouts of America provides guidance to local scout organizations with respect to money raising projects. All fund-raising activities must be approved by the national organization. In addition, the national organization has in place bylaws governing financial operations. Money raised for the benefit of a local unit or property acquired by a local unit is deemed to be received solely for the benefit of scouting as interpreted and promoted by the Boy Scouts of America. Clause 2(d) of section 1 of article XI of the bylaws and articles of the Boy Scouts of America provides:

Special funds created for specific purposes acquired by a unit or local counsel, shall be vested in a bank, trust company, or BSA Investment Trust, in trust for the use of the unit or the local council, in accordance with the wishes of the donors ....

Mid-Iowa Council has received funds from the Lacy trust annually since 1971. Recent contributions have been approximately $8000 annually. Mid-Iowa Council has deposited the trust distribution in its general fund and used it to defray its operating costs in the twenty-seven counties of its geographical area. The record indicates that the amount of money expended by Mid-Iowa Council on behalf of scouting activities in Oskaloosa is based on a general formula that applies to all scouting programs of similar size within the district.

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Related

In Re Trust Known as Spencer Memorial Fund
641 N.W.2d 771 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
641 N.W.2d 771, 2002 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 33, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mid-iowa-council-of-boy-scouts-of-america-inc-v-norwest-bank-iowa-na-iowa-2002.