PRESS RELEASE
27 August 2019

Day Pitney Successfully Defends The Janet Reno Revocable Trust On Appeal

DP
Day Pitney LLP

Contributor

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Day Pitney LLP is a full-service law firm with more than 300 attorneys in Boston, Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New York and Washington, DC. The firm offers clients strong corporate and litigation practices, with experience on behalf of large national and international corporations as well as emerging and middle-market companies. With one of the largest individual clients practices on the East Coast, the firm also has extensive experience assisting individuals and their families, fiduciaries and tax-exempt entities plan for the future.
Florida's Third District Court of Appeal issued an opinion in favor of Day Pitney client James Alan Hurchalla, in his role as successor trustee
United States

Florida's Third District Court of Appeal issued an opinion in favor of Day Pitney client James Alan Hurchalla, in his role as successor trustee of the Janet Reno Revocable Trust.

In her trust, Reno – the former U.S. Attorney General and State Attorney for Miami-Dade County – created a charitable gift for her historically significant homestead property to the University of Miami, on the condition that the property is preserved in perpetuity. After Reno's passing, the University of Miami declined the gift. The successor trustee, Hurchalla, secured an alternative institution, Miami Dade College, which agreed to accept the property under the same terms and conditions.

To preserve Reno's charitable intent, Hurchalla filed a petition to modify the trust, pursuant to the cy-près doctrine, which allows for the modification of a trust or will when the original objective of the testator has become impossible, impracticable, or illegal to perform.

In November 2018, Day Pitney obtained a summary judgment approving the transfer from a Miami-Dade Circuit Judge, which was appealed. The Third District Court opinion affirmed the final judgment authorizing the successor trustee, to consummate the charitable disposition to Miami Dade College. In doing so, the Court concluded that "...(a) Article VI of the Trust governed the disposition of the Reno Homestead following her death, as the property was still owned by the Trust, and (b) the Successor Trustee's proposed alternative charitable disposition is 'consistent with the settlor's charitable purposes,' after the originally-proposed charitable gift became impracticable or impossible to achieve."

The Day Pitney team included Alan G. Greer, Charles H. Johnson and Katherine A. Coba.

PRESS RELEASE
27 August 2019

Day Pitney Successfully Defends The Janet Reno Revocable Trust On Appeal

United States

Contributor

Day Pitney LLP logo
Day Pitney LLP is a full-service law firm with more than 300 attorneys in Boston, Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New York and Washington, DC. The firm offers clients strong corporate and litigation practices, with experience on behalf of large national and international corporations as well as emerging and middle-market companies. With one of the largest individual clients practices on the East Coast, the firm also has extensive experience assisting individuals and their families, fiduciaries and tax-exempt entities plan for the future.

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