Abstract
Eleanor K. Taylor, in her book Public Accountability of Foundations and Charitable Trusts sketches the regulatory machinery in some twelve states and England and Canada, with a glance at the federal machinery in the form of the Internal Revenue Code and the Service which administers it. In the preparation of her study, a questionnaire was sent to the attorneys general of 48 states and two territories inquiring into the legal machinery in their states for the performance of the attorney general's ancient duty of representing the public interest in connection with charitable trusts. Responses came from 33 states (Nebraska did not respond). The responses indicate that public benefit from charitable trusts is not the result of state enforcement. Question 1 of the questionnaire, "What provision is there in your state for keeping a list of charitable trusts as they are established by will or otherwise?" evoked 32 answers of "none" and 1 answer from New Hampshire that there exists a Special Register of Charitable Trusts. Question 2, "Is there any official list in your office or elsewhere of charitable trusts now operating in your state?" evoked the same responses. To question 3, "Is there any provision whereby the attorney general periodically inspects charitable trusts to see whether they are being properly carried out," there were also 32 "no's" and 1 (New Hampshire) "yes."
Recommended Citation
Paul A. Phillips,
Book Reviews: Public Accountability of Foundations and Charitable Trusts, Eleanor K. Taylor. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1953,
33 Neb. L. Rev. 659
(1953)
Available at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nlr/vol33/iss4/17