CHAPTER 11
PROCEEDINGS INVOLVING
NON-PROFIT CORPORATIONS
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B. |
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Method of Proceeding in the Orphans’ Court; Standing |
 The proper method of proceeding is by petition pursuant to Pa.O.C. Rule 3.5. Notice must be given to the Attorney General pursuant to Pa.O.C. Rule 5.5 and Pruner
Estate, 390 Pa. 529 (1957). The question whether a party has standing to bring an action has received extensive attention. In all cases, it is clear that the Attorney General has standing, and in some cases other parties may have standing depending on their relationship to the corporation or the charitable property in question. See,
e.g., Valley Forge Historical Society v. Washington Memorial Chapel, 493 Pa. 491 (1981); Wiegand
v. Barnes Foundation, 374 Pa. 149 (1953); In
re The Barnes Foundation, 443 Pa. Super. 369 (1995); In
re Milton Hershey School Trust, 807 A.2d 324 (Pa. Commw. 2002). However, a “person whose only interest in compelling a charitable organization to perform a duty owed by that organization to the public is that interest held in common with other members of the public, cannot compel the performance of a duty owed by the organization to the public.” Valley
Forge Historical Society, supra at 498 (citing Wiegand,
supra at 153). |
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