Deed Means What It Says – Restriction on Use Upheld

In re 1934 Deed to Camp Kilworth, --- P.3d ---- (Wash.App. Div. 2 Feb 24, 2009) (NO. 37015-8-II)

In a 1934 deed, the Boy Scouts of America were given property provided that the land would revert to donors or their heirs if the Boy Scouts sold the property or stopped using it as a scouting camp. The Boy Scouts sought to have the reversionary clause removed from the deed through the court's equity jurisdiction, enabling them to sell Camp Kilworth for funds to further benefit the Boy Scouts.

The Scout Council argued that, rather than a mere grant of land, the Kilworth deed constituted a trust. The Scout Council claimed that the trial court sitting in equity could reform the document under the equitable deviation doctrine

The trial court, determining that this was a matter of trust administration, used its equitable powers to grant the Boy Scouts' request.

Division II reversed. A deed is a deed. A deed is not a trust.

This case demonstrates a common problem in the courts: Trial judges either through ignorance or judicial activism create new law. Most of the time the parties cannot afford the appeal and the trial judge’s concept of justice prevails. This makes it very difficult for lawyers to predict the outcome of cases unless the client can afford to appeal. Trial judges should remember their oath and follow established law.

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