Simple English definitions for legal terms
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The doctrine of approximation allows a court to change how a trust is managed in order to keep the trust going and fulfill the wishes of the person who created it. This is done when the original instructions for the trust can't be followed exactly. It's also called the equitable doctrine of approximation and is different from the cy pres doctrine.
The doctrine of approximation allows a court to make changes to the way a trust is managed in order to keep the trust intact and fulfill the wishes of the person who created the trust. This is also known as the equitable doctrine of approximation.
For example, if a trust was created to provide scholarships for students in a particular field of study, but that field of study no longer exists, the court may use the doctrine of approximation to modify the trust so that it can still provide scholarships for a related field of study.
Another example would be if a trust was created to support a specific charity, but that charity no longer exists, the court may use the doctrine of approximation to find a similar charity to support instead.