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Longest Mahoning County court case ends
YOUNGSTOWN
The longest-running court case in Mahoning County ended Friday with Probate Judge Mark A. Belinky approving a judgment entry signed by the parties to the case.
That case pertains to the William Swanston Charitable Fund, which was created with $100,000 from the will of William H. Swanston, a Canfield Township farmer who died in 1919.
The entry dismisses the case and terminates court supervision of the fund, because “there is no need for the court to retain jurisdiction,” Judge Belinky wrote.
Swanston intended that the money be used to establish an orphanage.
With that goal no longer being practical, the fund now leases a Broadway Avenue group home it bought and renovated to the Mahoning County Children Services Board and allocates money to various local organizations serving abused, neglected and dependent children. Today, the fund’s assets total nearly $7 million.
Until now, the probate court has appointed fund trustees, and the court has decided how best to manage the fund under the legal principle of cy-pres, which means managing it in a practical manner that most closely approximates the donor’s intent.
In Friday’s judgment entry, Judge Belinky approved the following four major changes requested by fund trustees:
Switching the fund’s beneficiary from the Youngstown Foundation to the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley without objection from either foundation.
Broadening the fund’s service area from just Mahoning County to the Mahoning Valley, which includes both Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
Switching the appointing authority for fund trustees from probate court to The Community Foundation.
Dismissing the court case because court oversight will no longer be necessary following the above changes.
Besides Judge Belinky, the agreed-upon entry was signed by an executive of the Community Foundation and lawyers for the Swanston Fund; PNC Bank, trustee for the Youngstown Foundation; and two assistant Ohio attorneys general.
“We have eliminated another layer of administration. The court had to approve the appointment of the various directors over the years, and I didn’t think that was necessary, and neither did the parties involved,” Judge Belinky said in a Friday interview.
Because the judgment entry has been agreed upon by the parties and approved by Judge Belinky, a probate court hearing that had been set for Tuesday will be unnecessary and has been canceled.