## Facts

- In 1955, Dr. Joseph Kimbrough created a trust paying income to named family members (a niece and nephews) for life, with the remainder to Washington University “for the exclusive use of its Dental Alumni Development Fund.”
- Kimbrough was a dentist associated with Washington University’s dental school and made multiple lifetime gifts to the university, many of them unrestricted.
- Kimbrough died in 1963; the trustee administered the life-income interests as directed.
- Washington University ended the Dental Alumni Development Fund in 1965 and later closed its dental school in 1991 (with related dental activities continuing in another form).
- When the last life beneficiary died in 2000, the remainder became distributable, but the named fund and dental school no longer existed.
- Kimbrough’s great-great-nieces sued, claiming the charitable remainder failed and should pass to heirs; the trustee and university argued the gift should be reformed under cy pres to a similar charitable use at the university.
- The circuit court found general charitable intent, applied cy pres, and directed the remainder to fund two dental-related professorships at Washington University.

## Issues

1. Whether the remainder gift failed and reverted to the settlor’s heirs because the specified fund (and dental school) no longer existed, or instead should be redirected under cy pres based on general charitable intent.
2. Whether the absence of an express reversion or gift-over clause supported a finding of general charitable intent.
3. What evidence (instrument language and surrounding circumstances, including lifetime giving) may be considered to determine whether the donor’s intent was general or limited to a particular fund.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed.
- The court held Kimbrough showed general charitable intent to benefit Washington University’s dental-related charitable work, not a narrow intent confined to a single discontinued fund.
- Because literal compliance with the designated fund became impossible or impracticable, cy pres applied.
- The remainder was properly redirected to a closely related charitable purpose at Washington University (funding two dental-related professorships), and did not pass to heirs.

## Legal Principles

- A charitable disposition directed to a particular program or fund may be reformed under cy pres when the specified mode of performance becomes impossible or impracticable and the donor had general charitable intent.
- General charitable intent may be inferred from the trust language, the donor’s relationship to the charitable institution, patterns of lifetime giving, and the absence of a reversionary clause or gift-over to heirs.
- When cy pres applies, the court should select a substitute charitable use “as near as possible” to the donor’s original charitable purpose, including continuity of institutional beneficiary where consistent with the intent shown.

## Conclusion

The court preserved the charitable remainder by applying cy pres, finding that the donor intended to support dental-related charitable work at Washington University generally; the failure of the named fund and closure of the dental school did not cause the gift to lapse or revert to heirs.


Obermeyer v. Bank of Am., N.A., 140 S.W.3d 18 (Mo. 2004)